With a little change of destiny
by ghost princess Perona
Summary: Much things can change with a little action, with a little twist if destiny. And many more secrets can be hidden, not exactly by their owners. In a world where Levi didn t exactly grew up in the underground, Eren receives a surprise after the insurrection... and the others too! How will things turn out? Much different, don t you think?
1. Chapter 1

Hello! Recently I became practically obsessed with shingeky no kyojin and suddenly I wanted to write a fic about it. I loved specially Levi and Eren, their histories are incredible. But with a little change in destiny... who knows? Well, I hope you like the fic.

Shingeky no kyojin is not mine, it´s from great sensei Hajime Isayama.

"The Reiss are… the real royal family" when the capture soldier said those words, Levi have to do his best not to widen his eyes. It was a secret, but he knew the Reiss family quite well. Hell, he was practically raised by one of them. And now… he simply couldn´t believe it. Has he really grown up with the royal family and not have a clue about it? His thoughts drifted back to the memories of those years when he was still a child with…

-Years before-

"I´m Kenny" it was the first time Levi saw his uncle, shortly after his mother´s death. He was so sad that he didn´t even eat, but he didn´t care. His mother was his whole world, the only person that cared about him. So without her, he didn´t know what to do anymore. "Come on, kid, I will take you to eat something. Then you will come to live with me"

"Who are you?" the child said. The former assassin didn´t answer, just took him to eat. Levi had no problem with that, as his mother told him to live on. He was just feeling depressed until now, not knowing what to do without Kuchel, but now someone told him what to do. He ate and talked to his new caretaker, telling him what he learned to do. The police was not impressed, his sister could have done better. All Ackermans should know how to fight, why did Levi not know?

"Higher, brat!" he screamed at him. it was his third day of training and he was slowly getting better. "Okay, you have embarrassed yourself enough for a day, let´s go to eat" he stated. "The fuck´s sake, my gramps would have died had he seen you move like that."

"Trying" the younger excused himself. They were eating when someone dared to sit down besides Kenny and take his beer mug away from him. it was a capital offence for the great Ripper, so he stood to murder the infractor, only for his hood to fall… as well as Kenny´s desires to pound him on the ground.

"What are you doing here?" he whispered, sitting down again. The nephew took a look at the first person that managed to control his uncle. The first impression he had of Uri Reiss was that he was a fragile man, questioning exactly how he could even survive on his own down there. "A person like yourself shouldn´t be…"

"You are not telling me what to do, Kenny Ackerman" he shut the other up. "You simply disappeared for days… of course I will get worried over you! You are my…" a hand was put on his mouth. "What´s wrong with you now?!"

"Keep quiet, please, Uri" he stood up again, giving him a hand. "Let´s speak outside" the noble followed him, crossing his arms. "Look, I… had to come here for something… my little sister was down here and… Kuchel just died"

"Your little…" his eyes widened. "Oh, sorry, Kenny, I didn´t know… I shouldn´t have screamed at you, you must be sad. I know I would be if Rod ever dies before me" he was regretful, it was written all over his face. "I´m sorry for your loss."

"Thank you" he left out that Kuchel and him weren´t that close and the fact that they haven´t seen each other in years. And that wasn´t exactly a nice meeting either, not like the ones the king had with his coward of a brother. "Now, if you can go back to your house. I will take you out through the closest door. I will be back in a few days, when I buried Kuchel."

"Why don´t you just take her with us?"

"Eh?" he stared at the blond, who just looked back at him as if he was the dumbest person in the world. They continued with their staring contest until little Levi came out of the cantina out of curiosity. Uri managed to see the boy this time, which made him wonder what kind of relation he had with Kenny.

"Didn´t you know?" the Reiss finally continued. "The officers of the Military Police headquarters had a private graveyard for them and their families. Your sister is a close relative, so they will let you burry her there. You only have to bring the body with us, they will take charge of the arrangements for the funeral. So can we go now, please?" the child grabbed the end of the Ripper´s cloak. "Who is that boy by the way?"

"He… well…" a frown in the king´s face made him flinch. Somehow, Uri always managed to bring the truth out of him, a compulsive liar and murderer. And it had nothing to do with the Titan power he had within him. he swallowed and pushed said kid in front of him. "This is my nephew Levi… Kuchel´s son. Midget, this is my boss, Uri Reiss."

"Hi, Levi" the blond smiled at him, trying to give the child a sense of security around him. "I see that your uncle brought you here to eat. Is he watching you for your father?"

"I don´t have a father" the young raven answered so naturally that the Reiss was a little bit shaken. He was about to ask if he died too, but then "I never had one."

"What?" the royal saw Kenny fidgeting a bit and suddenly understood that it was a little complicated and a touchy subject. Perhaps his favourite´s sister was one of those women of dubious reputation that his father always warn him against. "Okay, we will talk about this at a later time" he extended his hands. "So you are this child´s guardian now, no? Have you ever talked to your sister about what would happen if she died?"

"Ehhhhhh… no" Kenny rubbed his nape. "That´s why I told you I needed some time off. I want to stay here with Levi for some time, then I will return to work."

"Why would you need to…" then it clicked for Uri. His soft expression suddenly turned hostile, as he thought about turning into a Titan and eating Kenny alive. For what he planned to do, he surely deserved it. He softly bumped Levi to the side and, with a completely enraged face, returned to his favourite. Doing his best not to scream, he whispered. "Seriously, Kenny? Were you seriously considering abandoning your nephew here of all places?"

"I wasn´t going to leave the brat here without anything" he excused himself, trying to avoid that expression that didn´t tell anything good for him. and he had no intention of fighting with a Titan there. "I was going to give him some training…"

"Training my ass, what he needs is his family. And you, mister, are his family, want it or not" suddenly, the king went down and scooped Levi in his arms, started to walk away. The kid was a little bit shocked, but comfortable in the man´s arms, so he stayed willingly in his arms. "I am leaving and taking this child with me, whether you like it or not."

"Hey, Uri, wait. He is my nephew, you know. I´m his guardian…"

"And I am your boss and say that outside this hole, you can teach him whatever you want, but I´m taking him with me. End of the history. Come on or I will be leaving you here" the military police just grunted and followed him, knowing that his so called boss can do worse things than leaving him without a paycheck. "Great choice"

"Sometimes I hate you, you know?" the former assassin put his hands in his pocket, grunting at the perspective of having to become a father by the force. And hell, he was going to be such a disastrous one. Kuchel had to be laughing along with his grandfather wherever the dead ones go, because him being stuck with a child would be so funny… "You know I work for hours and hours, no? You will have to raise my salary to get a babysitter."

"Don´t be ridiculous, that´s what school is for" the king continued, walking between the scum of his city without worry, surely using his titan power to keep the people away. "Did you ever go to school?" the other gave him a very nasty look. "Okay, wrong question. Of course you didn´t attend school."

"Your hair smells clean" Levi commented, making Uri blush a bit. The kid continued to smell it, as it was a foreign thing for him, one that he particularly liked. Since a long time ago, his wish in live have been living in a clean house, something the smell reminded him. finally they reached the entrance of the city… and the limit to everything Levi knew. Uri, with disinterest, searched for the money in his pocket and handed it to the guard.

"Hey, hey, not so fast" the man got in the way of the king, who didn´t exactly looked thrilled. Kenny moved, trying to shield him from the corrupted collectors, even if Uri didn´t need the help. "The fee just got up, cute stuff. So unless you have something to pay with, you are staying here" he got closer, smelling his possible victim. The Reiss didn´t move. "Or you can pay in species."

"You said the fee just got up. Who ordered it?" he asked with education, noticing the distress in his bodyguard… well, not distress. For his Ackerman those two were just a quick dispatch. "Because I can´t remember someone in the upper city asking the government about a raise in the crossing privileges. And it takes some time too…"

"I don´t know what you said, but I didn´t like it. But, as it´s your first visit to the underground city, I´m going to pass it" he tried to intimidate the shorter man, something he definitely wasn´t going to achieve. "Pay the new fee or you are staying, along with that brat and the bastard behind you."

"Extortion, eh? Is that the way you fill your pockets?"

"You are starting to piss me off, shorty" he tried to grab the king, but was stopped by the man dressed in black, who painfully twisted his arm. The ruler between the walls rolled his eyes as the other threatened him and pleaded for mercy, feeling his bones crack because of the pressure he was applying. "Release me! I´m a personal guard of the noble Orcus! And you don´t want to mess with my…"

"Release him, Kenny" asked the blond, making sure that the child didn´t see his uncle acting so violently. "This gentleman is going to take the money and let us go, the right amount" the man did as he was told, making the Ackerman realise that his friend was using the Titan Power. "And remind me later that I have to have a serious conversation with Orcus about the guards he puts on the entrance."

"As if I could remember that" the bodyguard continued walking. They suddenly appeared in the city inside Wall Sina, the richest of them all. The luxuries one could see there contrasted a lot with the poverty inside the underground city.

"Perhaps we should see him today" Uri raised a hand and called a taxi, still with Levi in his arms. "But first let´s go to my house, this little guy needs a bath with urgency" his nose cringed. "Apparently someone wasn´t well taken care of since his mommy passed."

"Ja! That´s too naïve, Uri! You could search in all the underground city and will never find a child that´s well taken care of!" the two entered to the carriage, where the conductor looked at them a little bit confused. Probably asking himself why did he decided to pick some weirdoes like them. They surely weren´t dressed as residents of Stohess and one was carrying a dirty child. But for some reason he didn´t want to throw them out either.

"Excuse me, sir, where to?" better to end this quickly.

"To the Reiss manor, please" asked the blond one, sitting little Levi next to him. the conductor tried to think what those two could want in such a place, but the shorter one apparently had the money to pay him, so… he ordered the horses to move. "Has he been presented to the church?" the man in black chuckled. "Kenny…"

"Again, you are too naïve, Uri" the Assasin looked through the window. "Most people down there doesn´t even know what a church is. Just ask him."

"What´s a church?" asked the child with genuine curiosity and the shifter face palmed. Really, what were those zealots doing? It seems that they forgot to serve people. Levi grabbed his clothes in an effort to gain his attention. "Can you tell me?"

"Later, darling" the Reiss smiled. "When we have a nice cup of tea in front of us… God knows that I need one now" he rubbed his head. "Then it´s settled"

"What´s settled?"

"I will tell you later" Uri answered, trying to make a mental list of what a kid Levi´s age needed, starting with a good bath and a haircut. Then he will need a good place to stay… no, Kenny definitely didn´t have that at the headquarters and he was too much of a cheap ass to buy a new place. Then… "I hoped you like it"

.A few hours later.

"Who… Lord Reiss! We will open right now, sir!" his house guard recognized the lord, opening the door. Uri smiled when he saw his house, simple and tiny for a king, but enough for him. Rod threw a fit when his brother told him that he wasn´t going to live with him and his family… something he ended up grateful of when little Frieda arrived, as he was accustomed to have many space. "Are you alright, sir?"

"Yes, thank you" he answered to the man, then stepped out of carriage with Levi by the hand and Kenny behind. He marched directly to the housekeeper, who bowed in respect. "I want you to prepare a bath and a room in the west wing for a child… oh, and start preparing a tea."

"Right away, your majesty" she answered.

"Ehhhh? A room for a kid? Uri…"

"Come on, you don´t have space in your room for a child and I know you aren´t spending your money in anything that´s not alcohol or your damn tobacco" he gave the other a disgusted look that Kenny ignored. "Levi-chan is staying with me. It´s the least I can do as his godfather."

"His… godfather?"

"I told you I will tell you later, no?" the king stared at him with a smile in his face that wasn´t good for the bodyguard. "I decided that I will be the one that presented him to the church, which means I will become his godfather" he patted the child´s head. "And that´s not all, I will also give him a place to live, my own manor."

"I am not such a cheap ass…"

"Of course you are" the blond started walking towards the house. Kenny sighed, knowing that he had the battle lost, especially since Uri could do terrible things to him if he dared to say anything. He instead climbed to the wall, keeping his eyes on his friend and nephew. What a day…

"Hey you! I´m talking to you!" the Ackerman tried to ignore the piercing shrill voice of one Rod Reiss, but he couldn´t. He finally turned towards the annoying coward. "What, are you deaf?! I´m telling you to open the door!"

"Open it yourself" he continued with his mission, leaving the annoying prince fuming. His mission there was not obeying Rod, but keeping Uri safe, and he was doing exactly that. The noble finally made his conductor open it and entered as if it was his house. With his nose high, he walked into the house, making the bodyguard become interested. This was surely going to be fun.

"Uri, I heard you left the house without anyone and I got… what´s that?" he said, pointing at the boy that was being bathed by his brother. Levi looked at him, deciding in that moment that he didn´t like the fatso there. Besides, he smelled as if he hadn´t bathed in some time. Yuck, didn´t he knew how to clean himself? "Brother…"

"This is Levi-chan" the king said, dumping some water over the child to clean up the dirt from his hair. "Kenny´s nephew" he explained. "His mother just died and now he is going to live with his uncle."

"Ahhhh" Rod was still trying to understand the situation. Well… finding him in the house wouldn´t be such a surprise. Kenny usually spent all his day guarding Uri. Hell, he even had his own room in the house to guard him at night too, so it was logical to find the boy close to his uncle, but perhaps the little playroom his brother had for the children of the service would be a better place for him to be. "And he is here because…"

"I´m going to be his godfather" this wasn´t surprising either. A lot of members of their military police asked them to be godparents of their children or relatives and they accepted just out of courtesy, but usually it was limited to present the child to the church and give it a present he could exchange for money later. So why was the king acting like that with Levi? Oh, God, please, don´t let it be that Uri picked up another stray dog.

"And…"

"Kenny doesn´t have enough space where he is living now, so I will have him in the manor" he dumped water on the kid´s face again. "And before you ask, yes, Rod, it´s for an indefinite amount of time. He can stay here as long as he wants."

"Ye… yes… excuse me" he walked right out of the house, searching for the eldest Ackerman. He found him in the exact same place as before. "Hey, you! Yes, I´m talking to you!" the assassin looked at him. "Come back to the floor!"

"What?" the man in black landed on his feet, towering over the prince. He intimidated him a bit, something he enjoyed. "Is there something wrong, you jelly man?"

"Don´t call me that" Rod stood his ground. "What the hell is Uri doing there with your nephew eh? What did you do to him to make him accept?"

"I didn´t do anything" he sighed. "Look, he followed me when I was picking Levi up from Kuchel´s… my little sister, okay? Well, I was picking him up and he showed up, giving me a lecture about what I should do with him" now that was believable, Kenny would be a terrible father, that the prince knew. "Then he picked the midget up and started walking away, so I followed. And before I could have a say, he declared himself his godfather and preparing his manor to house him."

"Damn" the Reiss cursed under his breath. Yes, his brother adopted another stray dog. And apparently he had no desire to set it free again. "Just what I needed"

"Yeah… I was hoping you could convince him"

"When Uri sets his mind on something, he doesn´t give up the idea" the fat man sighed. "Gave me a few days, he will hopefully get cored of him. And if that and I can´t manage to make him return the kid, then no one can and we will have to live with it" he started walking again towards his brother. "By the way, are you sure you want to keep it? You would be a terrible father."

"Tell me something I don´t know"

.A few days later.

"What did you said about boredom separating them?"

"Shut up" Rod wanted nothing more than to strangle the Ackerman. Uri was not cleaning the place with Levi, with a big smile in his face. And while a good person, the king was a cleaning freak. One big cleaning freak. Something that Levi was starting to pick up.

"And this is how your name is written" Uri put a paper in front of the child, who looked not interested, but was good to conceal his feelings. An Ackerman trait. A maid got to the table where the Reiss was trying to teach his young godson how to write with a pot and some cups. "Yum… do I smell black tea?" he said after he was served. "A special leaf?"

"The production was good this year" answered the girl before leaving the place. The two besides them rolled their eyes, Kenny jumped away from reach to continue guarding the king without being seen. His senses told him something was about to happen. And he wasn´t wrong at all. Someone came with a weapon, it was the guy from the underground city.

"Goddammit, couldn´t you just let me deal with the guys I have to deal with?" he send a knife towards the man with an accuracy the best sharpshooter in the world would be envious of. The man felt to the ground. "That reminds me, I have to tell him about the reunion he wanted to have with Lord Orcus" he landed near the table. "U… your majesty" he bowed, remembering that he needed to behave in the presence of other. "you wanted to have a reunion with…"

"Lord Orcus, now I remember" he looked towards the exit. "This is the second time one of his men tries to hurt me."

"What?!" Rod spat his tea. "Uri! You should have told me! And why is not that traitor in jail already?! If this…" he was about to call him a stray dog, but he bit his tongue. Kenny could be a commoner, but he was a useful commoner and it was an advantage to keep him. "guard killed two of his men."

"There is no need, they acted without their master´s knowledge" the blond zipped his tea. "I will talk with him later, remind him to keep a short leash on his men" the cup touched the plate without a sound. "Call him here after lunch" he then looked at the other Reiss. "Rod, would you, Rainy and the children come for dinner tonight? I haven´t seen Ulkyn and Frieda in ages. Is she already walking?"

"You know she is, it´s been only a week" the man stood up. "Of course, brother, we will come to dinner with you. Rainy might have some plans, but…"

"It´s okay, you don´t need to cancel anything for me."

"No, really, it´s an honour to be invited to your house" he bowed and left. After he was out of the house, Uri reassumed his tea drinking. Suddenly the maid came back, bowing deep to the king. He stared at her, waiting for her to talk.

"Excuse me, your majesty, but the first tutor is already here"

"Tutor?" asked the bodyguard.

"Yes" he got up. "I took the liberty of hiring some tutors for Levi… since I know you wouldn´t do something to encourage him to pursue education" another nasty look from the blond towards his dear friend. "I want him to have the best education, at the level of my nephew and niece"

"Uri…"

"I´m introducing them tonight too, as they need to know each other. Levi is staying with me" Kenny felt the strong urge to facepalm. What was he going to do? When Uri said something, his word was law and not only because he was king or Founding Titan. The child looked at him with strange eyes, perhaps asking for help, but there was nothing to do. He jumped again to his post, taking his anger out on the first thing that crossed his path, like birds, butterflies and one very unfortunate dog. Sooner than he wished, the time for the dreaded dinner arrived, forcing him to stand Rod´s accusing face and his wife´s scorn.

"What did that stray dog?" Rainy said to her husband, whispering while a maidservant feed little Frieda. Kenny just stood behind Uri, trying not to blow her head off. Levi apparently was having the same problem.

"Apparently nothing, Uri stole his nephew"

"Great" the Lady Reiss cleaned her mouth, looking disgusted at the underground plague that now was going to receive the same education as her children. "Your majesty, my darling brother. I surely applaud your commitment with charity actions, but are you sure that bringing orphans to your house is a good idea?"

"Rainy, dear, he would have come to this house. Kenny lives in an apartment in the back of the house… at least he stays there more than in the headquarters, as his mission is to guard me all the time."

"Well… I think that he might have found a way to support the child and teach him all he needed to know."

"Are we talking about the same Kenny?" the blond said. "Because the Kenny Ackerman I know doesn´t like to spend money on anything that it´s not guns or whisky and think fighting if the only thing a kid needs to know… no offence."

"None taken" the bodyguard said back, as it was all true. He was such an eccentric person that worse things could be said about him. and he was the last person who could be trusted with a child. Rainy tried to argue even more in a polite way, making Levi roll his eyes. Dammit, only six and he was already learning how nobility was a synonym of hypocrisy. "I think I´m going to take a walk outside. Do you want to go with me, Levi?"

"Yes" the child was so happy to go with him that he would have smiled, but managed to keep his cold façade. Great… for a kid. The two Ackermans went to the yard, where they could breath fresh air… far away from any snob. And what a bunch of snobs Rod and his family was. Especially Rainy. Perhaps she should tell her about her husband cheating on her.

"Hey, do you want me to teach you something fabulous?" the raven child scrunched up his nose. "It´s nothing like those boring tutors, I promise"

"Then what?" the uncle pulled up something from his coat.

"How does knife throwing sounds to you?" he spent the rest of the night teaching his nephew how to grab the knifes, to throw them with deathly accuracy and to kill with them. Maybe this wasn´t what Uri deemed appropriate for a young kid, but it was for an Ackerman. His time with his uncle quickly became is favourite during the day… for years, as that was how Levi´s childhood passed. During the day he studied the ways of nobility, learning how to conduct himself on society (tea time was the thing of those moments he enjoyed, especially when they had black tea) and during the night he learned the paths of his clan, fighting.

"I don´t care a shit" was his answer when Kenny asked him what he thought about nobility. And in that he agreed. Nobility was a bunch of snobbish assholes with buckets of hypocrisy and a stick up their asses. Well, except Uri… but Uri wasn´t exactly nobility, no? He was royalty a complete step away… not that Levi knew about it. "And perhaps I should do the favour to his assholish to remove the stick up his ass."

"I would pay to see that" the former Assasin dodged a kick from the twelve years old midget. And for his stature, he surely could kick high. "And Rainy?"

"She is a bitch with an arid vagina" he said, trying to evade his uncle, only to end face first on the ground. "And I would kill to see her little Ulkyn crushed by a titan" he rolled his eyes, knowing full well that despite his age, the nearly adult Ulkyn still behaved like a brat (the crushing ended happening in the reality, but that they didn´t know) "They make me sick"

"Then I´m not the only one" Kenny continued the close combat training by restraining the nearly teen in the ground. Levi tried to break free, but even his enhanced strength couldn´t free him. "How about putting this to an end and going to a place I know you will like?" the younger looked at him with interest. "There is a very good bar in the Stohess district I know we can have fun in"

"Where?"

"You will see" that night, the older Ackerman took him to a place that would give Uri a heart attack if he knew he was in there. And more, he was drinking alcohol in that place. "You probably don´t remember, but the place where you were born was even worse. It´s bar were such places of…"

"I remember, there are some things that you won´t forget" the nephew drank more whisky. "Like mom… I never forgot her" he put the glass again on the counter. "Don´t misunderstand me, you and Uri-san are my family, but she was unforgettable."

"She was, eh?" Kenny wasn´t exactly with him in that, as he barely remembers his sister, but there were indeed unforgettable people in live. At their backs, a group of people was betting some pills. They immediately recognized them as coderoin, but didn´t do anything. "Hey, Levi, what do you plan on doing in live?"

"Hummm, not sure" the other answered, looking at his glass.

"As expected from you"

"What do you mean?" now there was tension between them, as a fight was about to break.

"Well, no offence, kid, but you were always a spoiled brat" Levi´s eyes widened. No one in his short life dared to even call him a spoiled brat, perhaps because he was surrounded by ones worse than him, beginning with Ulkyn. "You see? You don´t even know what to do with your life. Most youngsters your age are already on military training, you haven´t even consider joining the military corps. And with all the training I gave you…"

"Maybe because I don´t need the training" the midget glared daggers at him. "You already made sure to teach me better than any instructor" he drank more alcohol. "And perhaps I am just planning to get money out of the noble´s pockets after giving them a sound beating" he saw the table of poker "Do I even need the money?"

"Touché… but that didn´t change that. Midget, you are a spoiled brat who had more than many people could even ask for. Just your damn tea addiction costs a fortune. How much do you think a bag of black tea leaves costs?"

"Leave my tea out of this" he said with his teeth barred. He was ready to start a new fight over his words, when the people at the poker table got closer to them. Apparently they overheard their talk and were ready to grab all the money they can from them. Unfortunately for the codein addict players, the Ackermans were ready to fight even intoxicated.

"Who do you think you are messing with?" Levi got to his feet, kicking the first one in the chin. He quickly massacred the man whose friends tried to rescue, only to be pinned to the wall by Kenny´s knifes… not that he needed the help. Soon, the tables were completely destroyed and the angry owner of the establishment kicked them out. They left for the Reiss state. "Weren´t you supposed to be babysitting Uri-san tonight?"

"It´s my free night" the man in black answered.

"Do you have one?"

"Screw you, I can do whatever I want" they continued walking through those dangerous streets. "Do you want to beat some more thugs with me? I bet I can crush more of them than you, Mr. raised like nobility."

"You wish" in the end, it was a great night. Levi never beat Kenny at thug chasing, but he had a great night, something he almost never had. Usually, his definition of a great night meant avoiding the parties and requirements of nobility that Uri seemed so keen on making him follow… something that he wanted to throw out of a window. "Perhaps I should enlist myself like you said, that would give me the perfect excuse evade nobles."

"Like hell, some of them sent their children to the Training Corps for them to join the military police" the younger rolled his eyes, something that resumed exactly what he thought about the police corps. "You realised that I am in the military police, no?"

"But you are not exactly the model police… besides you also want to slit their throats sometimes" the Ripper agreed. "Accept it, they are only a bunch of corrupted idiots who wouldn´t last ten minutes in a real fight."

"Kid, you are right as shit… which doesn´t mean you are not a spoiled brat" a grunt signalled him that he had successfully annoyed his nephew again. "Try to enlist if you want. I don´t promise that you can stay, because when Uri finds out he is probably forcing you out. Hell, he is probably going to try and talk you out of the idea."

"After he rips you to pieces for bringing me here" unfortunately for the Ackermans, he was right. Uri Reiss was more than furious, especially at the mention of a fight. Levi quickly dodged the king, telling that he was tired and going to bed. For Kenny was worse, as his boss was particularly furious with him.

"Hey, calm down, the kid is perfectly fine" he commented. "Besides, king, he needs to get out more. He has know the worst of society, his mind needs to widen."

"I know he was born in the underground, thank you very…"

"I was not talking about the underground" a nasty glare from Uri was received. "Well, I guess it was not a fruitless night, as I could make him think about his future" this shocked the blond a bit. Yes, Levi was growing up, but… "The kid is clueless about what he wants to do in the future with his life. I suggested him the military training, as I already taught him most of what they are taught there…"

"No" the Reiss was firm. Knowing his godson… more like adopted son, really… he would join the scouts and would be killed by a titan… if they could kill Ackermans. "But you are right, he is in the right age for thinking about the future" yes, most nobles also began to think about the future of their children at that age. "I should start thinking about that too."

Did you like it? The insurrection arc was one of my favourites, so I decided to start with it. I am expecting the anime adaptation of it... I can´t wait! Send me your review if you like the fic!


	2. Chapter 2

"Mind taking me somewhere?" the first time Frieda ever talked to him was that morning, when he was fifteen years old. She was much younger than him, but already independent enough to leave the Reiss state every time she wanted to thank the farmers for their work. She was very loved because of that. He stared at her for a moment, noticing how different she was from the baby he remembered her to be.

"Where?" he asked, noticing the bag she was carrying, full of sweets and books for little children. She and Ulkyn now had a little brother, Dirk, whose ceremony of presentation to the church he was forced to attend. And he tried to escape, but it didn´t matter if he ran or hide, Uri-san still managed to catch him. in the end the animosity he felt towards the Reiss family, sans the king, only skyrocketed. But Frieda was tolerable.

"I will tell you" he watched her for a moment. Apparently, he was not to know where she wanted to go and perhaps should stay where she is, but in the end curiosity got the better of him. everything that was related to her family was a weapon he could use against them in the future, something he would need if he wanted to survive.

"Alright" the Ackerman got up from his favourite tree, where he liked to read. He put his book on a hole in the trunk, jumping down from the branches. The teen went to the stable, saddling his horse. The girl climbed up behind him, hugging his waist to keep herself on the animal. The two of them marched out of the Reiss state. Once outside, Frieda signalled the left. In that moment he started galloping, following her instruction except for the "watch out!" and the "slow down!" screams. "Shut up"

"Don´t tell me to shut up!" the future queen said, pressing her face to his back. Soon they were in the farming zone of Mytras, where little flowery properties were located. He slowed down in that zone, not wanting to drop the girl if they need to dodge something. "Where to now?"

"I… I think I can find my way now, thank you" he raised an eyebrow, but helped her get down and go away on her own. After all, they were in Reiss territory and she was very capable of defending herself. Besides, he would know if she was in problems from a mile away, so he only waited for the little girl to show up. Perhaps he also should buy some sleeves of tea now that he was there, his stock of black tea was running thin.

"You are a spoiled brat" the words of his uncle came to haunt him again, so he kept reading, no matter how much he wanted to spend his large quantity of pocket money on his favourite beverage. It was difficult, as he was practically addicted to the drink. He was reconsidering his decision when the little girl appeared out of nowhere.

"I´m back!" announced Frieda, appearing out of nowhere a few hours later. She looked very happy, as if she had just being playing with a dear friend. He grunted in response and helped her on the horse again so she didn´t hurt it. He loved the black stallion dearly, it was a birthday gift from Uri-san and the perfect mount. The Ackerman was sure that it could outrun the titans he read about in Uri´s books. They returned to the house, where he climbed the tree again. "What are you doing?"

"Reading" He kept his eyes on the antique book he found in Uri-san´s library… it was surely strange. It showed a girl with some kind of demon, who was talking to her. She was listening carefully. He tried to read it, but it was written in a language he couldn´t read, so he simply looked at the images. There was only one thing he could understand, because he caught the Reiss family talking about it the night before he took the book: YMIR.

"I will need… why do you have that?" Levi quickly put the book away, hiding it in the hole in the trunk. He was so absorbed in his own business that he didn´t notice the little girl came back. She was eyeing him curiously, wondering what he was reading about. "What is that book about? Please, please, tell me, tell me."

"It´s about a little girl… I don´t know anything else, I can´t understand the language" Frieda was even more curious, trying to reach the Ackerman in the tree. She grabbed some nearby branches, that broke when she tried to pull herself up. The noise didn´t bother the reader at first, as he was trying to decode the enigmatic text. Another thumb made him flinch, not being able to concentrate enough with the noises. A third failure made him snap. "Could you stop? I´m trying to read up here."

"Why? You can read with me!" the girl tried again, catching the attention of the other inhabitants of the house. The child turned around to see her uncle walking towards her, a kind smile on his lips. Frieda quickly ran to him.

"Sweetie, you are all dirty, what happened to you?" he started dusting her face, that also had some dirt from the road. He hasn´t seen Levi yet, who was trying to focus on his lecture again. "Just look at your dress, Rainy is going to kill you if she sees you like this. What were you doing in my backyard anyway?"

"He doesn´t want to play with me!" she pointed at him, making the teen roll his eyes. He has never played with Frieda before… in fact Rod didn´t even let him near his children unless he was forced to, and that was only for a family dinner of doom, as everybody in the Reiss State but Uri wanted to call it.

"Levi, you have to be… what are you reading?" the blond looked at his godson, frowning when he saw the cover of his book. The raven male closed it, giving it back to his proper owner. Only one more check was needed for the older to confirm that it was what he thought he was. "You shouldn´t have grabbed this, it´s private."

"It sounded very public for me when you were reading it in the library with your brother"

"Well… Rod can read it, he is a grown up. You are a brat" he tried to explain it. That was not something he should know, it could cause him some problems with Rod, who will most likely be the next king. "Anyway, don´t touch it again. Frieda, you go to Carine. She will give you a bath before sending you home. What were you doing here anyway?"

"I wanted him to take me somewhere!" answered the girl. "We were together on a horse until he decided he didn´t want to play with me."

"Maybe it´s because Rod doesn´t want you to get close to him… and sometimes I understand him" he shot his protégée a nasty look. Levi didn´t even returned it, he had already grabbed another book and opened it. It was not the first time Uri complained about his bad habits of drinking in the low class bars and picking fights with tugs. He was like a younger version of Kenny! "Can you come down please?"

"No" Levi said when the future queen left. Rod and Rainy were top two on his black list, along with some snobbish nobles from Mytras. Uri stayed where he was. "Can I have some privacy here? I´m not a child anymore."

"I know, believe me" with his impending death approaching, even with the family secret to extend the life of a shifter, it was a little bit difficult not knowing that his protégée was beginning to approach adulthood. "I just want to make sure that you are going to be alright… you know…"

"I am going to be alright" Levi closed the book. "I´m not turning out like uncle Kenny, I promise you that."

"I´m glad to hear that" he accepted. "Come down and change your clothes, you have lessons in the afternoon and after that we are attending a party. Lord Innocencio is finally making a birthday party after all these years and he invited all the high society" the Ackerman rolled his eyes. He heard about that man, he was some sort of Matusalen that used to be an important member of the military police. The man was also a very rich and heirless, a very appetizing piece of jam in the middle of a shark tank, being rounded before he was eaten. "The crème of the crème is going to be there with lots of young men and women."

"Aja" he opened the book again, returning to his lecture. He didn´t know why, but since he reached fifteen Uri-san became obsessed with finding a match for him. His continuous acceptances to parties and high society balls, dragging him along… that was making him crazy. "Are you introducing me to a rich heir again?"

"Yes, the son of the portly Royal Government minister. I met him before and he is a nice young man, you should get along with him. so get down, take a bath and dress yourself. We are going to a party" Uri walked away happily, leaving his growling godson on the tree. He hadn´t told him everything… he wanted it to be a surprise. He was walking to his library to place the book on the shelf when someone got to his encounter.

"You are pressuring him too much" Kenny appeared there, his typical smoke on his mouth. Apparently he just returned from some mission… something he didn´t want to know. "Don´t try to pair him up with some snob from the nobility, he is not one of them."

"It´s that bad to want the best for him?" the king turned to his bodyguard, facing him. "Look, I know he is your nephew, but I consider him my son. And… we talked about this already, I´m not going to…"

"Last forever? Yes, you told me, king" he approached, looking sad. Uri and Levi… they were all for him. The perspective of losing one of them was desolating. The Reiss said that he will continue living through his successor, but… "You also told me that you have like ten years more."

"You made it sound like it is a lot of time"

"It is" the military police approached him. "Don´t worry about Levi, he is an Ackerman. We know who to give our loyalty to… and our hearts too. Kuchel wasn´t fortunate enough to find someone like that, but believe in him. he will find someone."

"I… I just want to know that he is secure before I leave this world. I need to know that he is going to have someone good by his side that is going to take care of him."

"Do you think that he needs someone to take care of him?" the raven raised an eyebrow. "For fuck´s sake, king, he is an Ackerman! He doesn´t need someone to take care of him. HE is the one that is going to take care of the damn fucker lucky enough to gain him."

"Anyway, I want the best for him" the Reiss continued his advances. He placed the book on it´s place, sighing and deciding never to let Rod know that Levi touched that particular piece of antique literature. "Staying in the nobility is the best"

"Really? Because those rich snobs doesn´t do anything apart from getting fatter and uglier" commented the Ripper, missing the times when he could gun anyone he wanted and won´t have someone to reprehend him about it… too bad he valued Uri too much for his regret to last for long. "Apart from that, why are you only introducing him to male heirs? I think you were going to give him more room to choice."

"I was planning to find a girl to be his bride at first, but then I realised that he doesn´t have a last name they respected" Kenny looked at him in a weird way. "I said respect, not fear" the bodyguard let him continue. "If he marry some girl there could be problems after my death, because currently my last name is the only thing that protects him" another look. "In the noble way" again, he let the blond continue. "So, if he marries a make heir, he would gain a last name well respected and will be protected by it."

"Yes… I don´t understand. Like I said, he doesn´t need protection" Kenny trailed behind him as he went to the office. "He will take care of himself. Get those pairing up ideas out of your head and leave everything to him. from my side, I think that he will be better in the military system"

"With you? I don´t think so" Uri growled, making the other look at him in a funny way. after a moment of silence, the king sighed. "Sorry, I didn´t want to blow up at you. I know that everything you do is for me and the crown."

"It isn´t as easy to me as it sounds. I can be a trigger happy bastard… a bastard that does everything for you. Because of loyalty" he advanced, grabbing his hands. "Loyalty to the only person I can call a friend, the only person I will follow, the only person that I found worthy of my loyalty" he let him go. "That´s the way of the Ackerman clan."

"You made your family sound like a bunch of dogs."

"Yeah, a bunch of dogs who would choose their masters and keep loyal to them, masters who had to show us that they are worthy. And…" he lifted a hand. "we protect the ones we love to. We don´t want to lose anyone in our pack. Family, subordinates… no one."

"Pack?"

"Didn´t I tell you? My grandfather once showed me the family crest" Kenny grabbed a piece of paper. "It´s an animal like this…" he drew a big canine with his bared teeth over a mountain of broken weapons. "It´s a wolf or a dog of prey... or something in between. But it means the same. We protect the people closest to us, to the death. And no one can stop us because of that" Kenny sat down with him. "He will be alright."

"Even so, I want to make sure of that" the Reiss sat down too, still troubled. "I… I already told you… I want to make sure he is alright. And if he joins the military, he will surely join a dangerous squad like the Scouting Legion… or enter the Military Police, as he will of course classify as one of the ten best. I don´t want him to see the same things as you or how is it inside."

"Uri, the kid is not blind, he already knows that the MP is corrupted as hell" he stretched. "Besides, you might get lucky and he will end up in the Garrison."

"Kenny, not even you believe that. The Garrison is just too boring for his Ackerman blood to even consider joining it. No, I am sure that if he ends up joining he will go straight to the Scouts… and end up eaten by a Titan."

"Or eating a Titan, that can happen" Kenny commented. "I fought with you in your invincible Titan form, didn´t I? And I managed to land a few bullets in your giant ass before you grabbed me."

"More than a few bullets" he smiled. "And Levi is so skilled with the device and the knifes… I have never seen someone use them in reverse to slash a fake Titan before"

"Yes, I was so proud of that tiny midget…"

"He could definitely take a titan… or a thousand of them" the king sighed. "But I´m not changing my mind. I don´t want him to join me so soon, I will never forgive myself… or you" he glared at him. "I´m sorry if you don´t agree with me, but, as I said, I won´t change my mind."

"Sure you won´t" Kenny got up. How was he going to make him understand that he is doing no favour to the teen? That he wanted nothing to do with anyone in the nobility, nor staying in that circle? "So, you are marrying him off like one of those rich nobility girls? When have you planned the wedding?"

"I will tell you when I found the right groom" Uri answered a little pissed. "Now go make sure he is changed and get your vertical manoeuvring gear. We are attending to a party and you" he signalled "have to guard me."

"As always" the older Ackerman got up, growling. He somehow had to change the king´s mind before it affects Levi too much. Soon he was forceful dragging his nephew into a carriage and making him attend one of those parties he despised so much. "Sorry, kid, but what the boss says is final."

"I´m getting you for this" the teen promised once he was inside. The ride was spent in complete silence, the youngest not seeing anything but the floor. Once they were inside the ballroom, Uri went straight for someone else. Levi stayed against a wall, in a corner, watching the other guests. He saw Frieda and her brat older brother along with Rainy near the buffet. Ulkyn was beginning to show the first signs of hormonal changes, especially the growing up. His mother had little Dirk in her arms.

"And guess our surprise when Rainy became pregnant again less than a year after…" Rod was babbling to a congressman called Nicholas Lobov, one of his usual business partners. Levi rolled his eyes, knowing Dirk and that future baby were only a manoeuvre from Rod to make his wife forget about the affair he had with a maid like a year ago. It was the only time Levi ever heard the Reiss brothers fight, with Uri shouting at him just how much of an irresponsible idiot he is and Rod answering that she was the only one that understood him. the shouting got worse and worse until he got out of the house for a few drinks with the worst influence in the whole known world.

"Minister Billion! How have you been?" a voice broke him out of his thoughts. He turned to see Uri greeting someone fat… which could describe most of his nobility friends. Levi turned around to go to grab a glass of wine to stop the pain in his head. "And your son, how is him? I was wondering if he would agree to have a horse ride with Levi some day."

"Levi?" the minister coughed.

"Yes, Levi" the king crossed his arms. "You know he is a great match, but some boys from the lower nobility and even some wannabes are circling him to get a grab of his inheritance, which are properties from the crown" the man rolled his eyes, not understanding why his kind showed so much favouritism towards a low class dog. Kenny he could understand, but Levi? "I just want to be sure he is with the correct person before I have to… abdicate."

"Well, your majesty" he whispered, not wanting anyone else to hear him. "I don´t know if my son should approach him. He probably won´t be able to control him. besides… perhaps there are some things that should stay in the family, like the properties of the royalty. Haven´t you thought about that?"

"Staying in the family? No, usually no… but it´s a good advice considering the current situation" Uri turned to see his godson eyeing his family with a cup of wine on his hand. "Thank you, Minister. I will take you on account in the next meeting of the council."

"It is my pleasure, your majesty" answering the man, happy that he finally managed to get away with this. Prince Rod was going to reward him for finally making the king disinherit the dog that somehow crawled his way into the royal family. He was already fantasising with the money he would get and the political boon…

-A few weeks later-

"Are you out of your mind?!" Kenny said when he stood in front of his boss, an incredulity expression on his face. "Ulkyn? Seriously, Uri? You want to marry Levi to Ulkyn?" the Ackerman got closer to his desk, where the king was writing some document. "Uri, are you listening to me?! Stop writing!"

"Yes, I´m listening to you, Kenny" the blond let go of his pen, neither of them noticing that Levi was approaching to grab something from the library. "And I will tell you that I´m doing this on his best interest."

"On his best interest? Uri, Levi and Ulkyn couldn´t even be in the same room for five minutes without fighting. They will kill each other before the damn ceremony, for fuck´s sake! And let´s not talk about the wedding night! He won´t let Ulkyn put a hand on him!" he ran a hand through his hair. "You have to be completely out of your mind if you think that is going to work for either of them."

"Come on, they are not related and the minister said that some things are better kept in the family. I was thinking about it and decided that this can also be kept inside of the family given the special circumstances" Uri grabbed his pen again.

"Screw what that old fool said! They hate each other! Quite literally!"

"Their relationship is not that bad"

"King, open your eyes, they are even a worse match that the one you were planning with the minister´s son, who Levi hasn´t seen in his life" the bodyguard stated, grabbing the pen and throwing it at the other end of the room. "They absolutely despise the other. Don´t you remember their fights?"

"That was when they were children"

"I´m talking about last month, when Levi tried to use his gear on Ulkyn"

"Well… I think he learned the lesson, that won´t be happening again" Kenny wanted to comment that Levi didn´t need a gear to kill someone as stupid as Ulkyn, but kept that from himself. "And it´s not like they are going to be wedded tomorrow, they are teens. It´s only an engagement. The wedding will be when Ulkyn reaches age."

"No…" Levi covered his mouth with his hands when he muttered that word. He peered inside in fear of being found out, but apparently no one knew he was eavesdropping. Or maybe Kenny did, deciding to keep his secret just so he was under alert. And what level of alert he was right now. Ulkyn was the last person he could ever want to be bonded with. He was spoilt, irresponsible, arrogant, snobbish and a prone to temper tantrums. There was no way this wedding was being celebrated.

"Uri, they are not even the same age" tried to reason with him once again the bodyguard. "Do you think Levi would want to be a younger man´s bride? It´s uncommon for not saying anything else."

"It´s not that uncommon, many young maidens in the nobility are married to younger men" answered Uri, getting up to pick up his pen. "And it´s very beneficial for all of us. Levi will gain my last name at last, earning the status of a prince and no one could argue that again; and Ulkyn will gain a beautiful husband… something I´m not sure he will manage to do by himself."

"Hummmm, you are right on that" the older Ackerman crossed his arms. "By the way, what did the fatty wonder said when you told him about your plans?" there it was, the last resort. Appealing to Rod, who was most likely to be their strongest ally in that matter? "Is he fine with your plan?"

"Well… I haven´t had the opportunity to talk to him about this matter yet" admitted the king, a little bit red in the face. "He… might be difficult, so I´m waiting for the right moment. Besides" he quickly grabbed the pen and glared at him. "It´s not like he could say no to me. I´m the king and leader of this family, what I say is law. And I am saying that those two are going to get married."

"How considerate of you to consider everyone´s opinion" sighed Kenny, feeling defeated. He was not going to stop trying, but… for now the conversation was over. Perhaps with the help of the despised person in the family (aka Rod) he was going to be able to change his mind. Levi, for his part, fled the scene. He had to find a way out of that quickly… he went to the stables and saddled his horse. A few hours later he was back, a little bit more calm.

"Where did you go?" Uri asked him when he returned. It was unusual in him to just take his horse and go ridding for hours and hours. Even in Mytras or Stohess there were some dangerous spots… which Levi knew more than him, but that was not the point. "We were waiting for you to have dinner."

"We? Do we have visitors?" the Ackerman asked while entering, freezing in the spot. in the dinning room there was the entirety of the Reiss family, plus Kenny on a corner. The bodyguard looked grim, apparently all his attempts at stopping the king´s mad plan failed. In the table, Rod was fuming and Rainy like a stone statue. The children looked like they have just came back from a funeral, except for their clothing. The only one that seeming a little bit happy, playing with his food.

"They have all come to celebrate you and Ulkyn´s engagement"

"More like to mourn something" he entered and placed himself on his usual spot, crossing his arms to signal his utter rejection to this idea. But his godfather didn´t listen to anyone, raising his wine cup to cheer for the future couple, something no one else did. And an idea formed in the teen´s mind… this wasn´t going to happen.

-A week later-

"There is no way I´m letting this happen, not a way in the world" Levi finished making a rope out of the curtains in his room. He threw them out of the window, wishing it was enough to support him until he reached the ground. Then he will go to the place the manoeuvring gears were kept and get his. He grabbed the thing, jumping from his window. He descended carefully and finally touched the ground, all in complete silence. Or so he thought.

"You are making a scandal, brat" Kenny appeared from the darkness, holding his gear in his hands. Levi got into fighting stance, not knowing his uncle´s intentions. In his defence, the guy was unpredictable, he could let him escape his accursed engagement as much as dragging his back to his precious king.

"And here I thought I managed to do it in complete silence" he answered, crossing his arms. The two stared at each other for another moment before reassuming their conversation. "Are you going to give me that?"

"I don´t know, are you sure a spoiled brat like you could live without all the commodities of this house?" his nephew just stared at him, defiant. "Here, take it. I will surely have a blast counting with my fingers the hours you spoiled brat managed to live outside of this property. Without the warm bed, without the servants, without the pretty little horse Uri gave you and your precious black tea…"

"I will survive without it" assured Levi, grabbing the gear. There was no way he was returning, at least not until he was sure Uri-san changed his opinion about forcing him to marry Ulkyn Reiss.

"I highly doubt about it" the bodyguard turned around. "You want a final advice? Don´t do anything stupid like staying in Mytras or Stohess. In fact, going to Trost or anything like would be equally stupid, so avoid those places. Go to the underground city, there you will be away from Uri´s sight."

"The underground…" Levi parroted those words. He remembered that place… vaguely. He was only a little kid then, but remembered the kind of place it was, the murders, thugs, brothels and crime. It was hardly a place anyone would like to be in.

"You will be surprised of how safe it is, especially for the ones that want to disappear. Why do you think Kuchel went there? It was the only safe place in the middle of the Ackerman persecution" Kenny answered without looking at him. "Besides… it´s even safer for you. Why would you want to go there after Uri took you out? No one returns willingly once they get out, believe me."

"I do"

"Good" Kenny started to melt away with the shadows. "Let´s see how much you can endure a life on the run like Kuchel and I had. It will surely be a good show to see you return with your tail between your legs."

"I won´t return" at least not so soon, Levi added in his head, fastening the gear. He ran to the darkness, with only the gear, a change of clothes and some pocket money on his back. He used the gear to escape the manor and quickly approached Mytras.

-Some days after-

"This is bad" Levi commented, seeing the First Interior Squad of the military police search through the streets of Stohess. He has been staying in a hotel room for some days, planning his escape to the underground city. The Ackerman knew that he at least had to have the essential, like knifes to protect himself and food for some days. Unfortunately, the dogs of his godfather already were on his toes.

"Search" was the only order they received from the captain. It was not the anti-personnel squad; he would recognize the idiot he had for an uncle between them. And his little dogs, that too. Apparently he was going to have to move on unprepared to the next stage of his plan. He quickly grabbed everything in the room and escaped, going to the first entrance to the underground city he could find.

"There you go, kid" Kenny said while he watched him entering from a building. The anti-personnel squad was also participating of the search, but he sent his men other way and stayed to watch him enter and disappear in the earth.

"Captain!" Traute Carven approached him that moment. "Have you found him?"

"No, and I think we never might" Kenny pushed his hat a bit, smiling wickedly. "That Levi… should have put a chain on his neck while I could, no?"

"Sorry, captain, this might be hard for you" Duran said, appearing at that moment.

"Hard? Nah, the midget is going to be fine" he started to retreat, lighting another cigarette. His men watched him in confusion. "He is an Ackerman after all"

"An Ackerman" the woman asked, wondering a bit. She heard his boss mentioning that before, as if it was the great thing. At first she didn´t understood it, but after seeing Kenny´s way to fight and Levi´s training, she was completely sure it meant something. And she was going to find out what the hell it was. Inside of the underground city, the fugitive was running down the stairs. He paid his pass and continue his way out.

"I did it" Levi said when he finally put a foot on the ground. It haven´t changed a bit since he left it, as horrible as that was. In fact, the only thing he found different was that more people agonized in the street if that was possible. He pondered on what he should do, go to his mother´s old house or get a new one. He still has the money after all. "Perhaps I should keep some money." He started walking towards the old apartment, which surprisingly he remembered. "I´m…"

"Hey, what are you doing here?" an old man that smelled worse than a sewer appeared. Showing his only three yellow teeth. "This is my house, get out of here, you brat!"

"That´s incorrect" answered the teen without flinching. The smell was powerful, making him scrunch up his nose. "This used to be my mother´s house before she died, so this is my house. You get out of here."

"I don´t think so, get out of here before me and ma boys beat the hell out of you"

"The hard way then" Levi said, as if it was easy. The other thugs got out of their hiding places, ready to beat the stranger up. The Ackerman didn´t show the fear someone usually would in a situation like that. He raised his fists, giving those men the beating of their lives publically. His kicks were fast, his fists too strong for someone his size. And yet there was some elegance on them. The thugs escaped, running for their lives, screaming…

"Hummm, apparently there is someone new in the city, Farlan" Jan commented as he passed with his boss by his side. They have just made a little theft and were returning home with the winnings. Merchants were so easy to manage! "Do you think he is material for our band?"

"Perhaps" the blond answered, making a thoughtful expression. "But I may have to test him first. After all, we can´t have just anyone joining us, can we?"

"Nope"

-A few weeks later-

"I´m in no mood to play, so you better get the hell out of here or suffer the consequences" Levi was definitely angry by now. He spent nearly all the day walking through the entire city to find a simple bag of black tea, only to find out the price was so exorbitant that not even the king could pay it. He got angry and started a street fight, only to end up beating the merchant and his dogs a bloody pulp and gaining more of a reputation in that accursed place. And buying black tea seemed so easy back home!

"Hi, I´m Farlan Church, this guys are my friends" he said cheerfully. "We are searching for new recruits today and… guess what? You are first on the list" the Ackerman raised an eyebrow. "But first, you have to pass our little entrance test" the other thugs cracked their knuckled. "Don´t worry, they won´t kill you."

"I would be more worried about what they are going to end up as when I finish with them, you little piece of shit" the short man left his bag on the floor, finally using the language he felt comfortable with, the one learned from uncle Kenny. Talking like those stuck up nobles was starting to bore him. "And then you will follow"

"Teme, don´t underestimate us!" Jan and the others attacked, but didn´t last three minutes. Farlan watched in complete awe how his men were now lying on the floor, covered in bruises.

"Now, where was I?"

"Hey, hey, there is no need to get so violent" Farlan took a step back, raising his hands in surrender. "That was awesome, the most awesome! The most… can I join you?"

"What?"

"If I can join you" the blond extended a hand. "Never in my life have I seen someone fight like that, you must be a genius! With you as our leader there is no way we can be defeated!" Levi raised an eyebrow. "Come on, everyone needs a crew here. Or you do things in group or you die alone when the others band together against you. So… can I join you?"

"Hum…" the Ackerman thought about the proposition. He wasn´t scared of the others, but having some back up didn´t sound like a bad idea. "Do you have some experience with the vertical manoeuvring gear?"

Hello! Finally I finished the second chapter. Hope ypu liked it. About the thing with Ulkyn... I was searching for reasons for leaving an accomadate and lovable family in a hurry and then I had this idea. It´s crazy, I know, but I went on with it. Hope you like it. Send your reviews!


	3. Chapter 3

He should have known. He should have known since the very first second he saw someone as well dressed as that butler in the underground city. He also held himself in a way that only the servants of a great house would, with pride, but not as much as the nobles. This could only be orchestrated by someone of enough power, namely Rod Reiss. Or one of his lackeys that knew kept an eye for him in the underground city. This made him want to take Farlan and Isabel and ran as fast as he could. And no one would have really blamed him.

"Hummm? Who are you?" Farlan speaking those simple words started it. Levi hardened his stare when he heard that he wanted to hire them for a job. It was unlikely that he didn´t know who he really was. Hell, he would be surprised if there was a noble family his godfather didn´t presented him to. And if the man personally didn´t, his boss did.

"This is not an odd jobs store" he answered, not wanting to fell into the trap some ass licker of the Reiss fattass prepared for him.

"I already paid the first part" then they saw some men, obviously from the upper grounds, getting a third one to the carriage that was waiting for him. it was Jan, the man from Farlan´s old crew that still worked with them. Levi appreciated him, so he decided to reluctantly listen. The butler guided them to the stair, paying their pass. And nearly in the outside, they met…

"Shit" Levi punched a wall when he was alone, gritting his teeth. Nicholas Lobov acted like he didn´t met him, like he was another bug from the underground, but they definitely knew each other. The congressman and him attended the same parties, frequented the same circles and sometimes were forced to talk to each other by an overly excited Uri-san. There was no way he could miss the man, or for him not to recognize Levi. And there was another thing that was bothering him… the man was one of the closest subordinates of his least favourite piggy man.

"What are you doing, Levi aniki?" Isabel got into the house, holding a groceries bag on her hands. "Did I miss some spot in the daily cleaning again? If I did, I didn't want to. Just point me the place and I will clean it again."

"No, Isabel, the cleaning was perfect" he answered, flexing his knuckles. "I´m tired, I will sleep for some time, wake me up when Farlan arrives, okay?"

"Okay" he walked towards his room. "Hey, aniki" he stopped in his passing. "Do you think… that we really can live in the surface?" guilt erupted in him. He knew that… "In a nice house, with a big garden and birds flying in the sky above us? Little birds like the one we freed through the ventilation ducts?"

"Yes" he answered, entering his room, the pangs of guilt worse than ever. Once in his room he opened one of his drawers, extracting a tiny thing. It was a ring, one that Uri-san gave to him on the last birthday he spent in his house. The symbol that he was his son… that was now accusing him of being a selfish spoiled brat. It was him who wanted to stay in the underground city, it was him who wanted to avoid his family, not them. If it wasn´t for him, they would have gone out earlier and won´t be in such a problem. Or worse, if he really wanted to help them, he could just pay the fee to cross, as he had most than enough money for it, show the ring to man in charge of the damn office and get them immediately citizenship. And then he could take Isabel to live in his house, in the garden of her dreams, where she could live like the princess she deserved to be. And Farlan could give up his life of crimes, enjoying his life with them. But if he did that, then he would be forced to marry Ulkyn Reiss, something he was never going to accept. Damn…

"Levi aniki! Farlan aniki is here!" his adoptive little sister´s voice got him out of his guilty trip. This was not the time for feeling guilty, he had to solve this situation with Lobov as soon as possible and beg for his adoptive father never to find out… for his mental health. Because if Uri-san ever finds out he joined the Scouts, temporally or not, he would suffer a hearth attack.

"I just came back from visiting Jan" commented the blond thug, sighing. "He is in a first class hospital, courtesy of the wallet of that rich guy that hired us" the raven´s eyes never left him. The snobs from nobility were never that altruistic, unless they had something to win from their good actions. And he doubted it was just the destruction of the Scouting Legion. "The doctors told me that he might make a full recovery."

"Really?" then it was a good hospital.

"Yes" he didn´t seem amused in the least. "How are we going to do it?" he asked suddenly. "We might catch the attention of the Scouting Legion, but we don´t know how this Erwin Smith is or how to identify him. and he has to keep the papers close to him, perhaps in his rooms in the headquarters or on his office… on his person is another option."

"Only time will tell" the Ackerman got out, grabbing his gear. He fastened himself and went to the door. "We best make a good spectacle. The better we are, the faster they are going to come for us" he just wanted to finish with this quickly and return to the normal life he had until now. "Do you come?"

"Hey! Don´t just spring to action like that, aniki!" the girl screamed before she and her other adopted brother went to fasten their own gears. The three of them exited their tiny house to go rob some merchants. They get a good gaining, especially the black tea one of the men managed to snatch. He drank his tea calmly while he watched Isabel dusting the mobile, giving her some orders. Finally the room was to his liking and she was allowed to retire.

"Isabel is already asleep" commented Farlan, entering to the room after checking on the girl like a dutiful brother. "I think we should leave her out of this. The two of us are more than enough to recover a handful of documents that a rich snob managed to lose."

"I wish we could leave her out of this, but the Legion is already searching a group of three, two men and a woman. Even if we manage to pull the trick and leave her out of this, they will search for her. It´s better to stay the three together… and retreat together once the job is finished."

"I wonder what those papers are" the blond wondered, looking at the ceiling. "It has to be a big thing for him to search the help of some poor thugs from the underground and offer them so much" Yes, thought Levi, a big thing and the intercession of the one Rod Reiss. He was ruminating his anger until his friend lowered his gaze again. "Do think he will fulfil his promise, Levi?"

"Hummm" it depended, the Ackerman said in his mind. Nobles tended not to fulfil their promises when it came to deals with commoners, especially if they were poor and didn't have anyone to talk for them. It was a common play for the rich and powerful… one he was very familiar with due to his upbringing in a noble house. "If we play or cards well, he will" or more, if he played the game well. "We will need to keep those evidences hostage."

"Okay, then" he lifted from the couch. "Hey, cheer up a bit! Soon we are going to live in the surface and bath in the sun! It will be awesome!"

"Ummmmm" not for him, but he restrained his tongue. The thug didn´t need to know that he was talking with a nobleman… some sort of nobleman. The blond was leaving when something came to his mind. "Hey, Farlan… what are you planning to… what do you want to do once you gain citizenship in the surface?" the other looked at him confused. "It´s just curiosity"

"Well… I think I will follow the right path in live" Levi nodded. In a place like this you can´t be a good person, you have to be the scum of the world to survive in that place, a badass through and through. "I will leave crime behind and get a job, a decently paid, honest job… maybe in some noble snob´s house, a butler or something like that. Even a servant would work. And then I will buy a house… make a normal life."

"Really?" so his friend was so desperate to leave behind his life of crime, eh? Once again the pangs of guilt attacked his hearth and conscience. He cursed himself for being so selfish, as he could give him the life he so much wanted. If he just returned home and forget his stupid temper tantrum, if he put his friends before… Uri-san could arrange everything, he would gladly give Farlan a job and Isabel permission to live with them… then the face of the snobbish brat he would be forced to marry attacked him and made him back away.

"Yes! My life of crime is just a mean for an end, you know! Isn´t yours too?" the Ackerman didn´t answer, which he took for a yes. "You see? Once we get out we won´t need to be thieves anymore. It´s going to be a new life for us three."

"New life" a life he wouldn´t have, or at least didn´t want to. He got up too. "Tomorrow we are raiding another carriage. Those black market sellers changed their routes, but we are going to be able to locate them from the ceiling. Wake Isabel up early."

"All right" he made a sign with two fingers. "Goodnight, Levi"

"Goodnight" he went to is special cabinet and served himself some tea. It always has some calming effect over him… until that moment. Even with the beverage, the only thing he could think of was his uncle´s face smirking and calling him a selfish spoiled brat. Worse, he was right as hell. How could he just ignore his friends dreams to save himself? They deserved better than him.

"Aniki? Are you alright?" Isabel came, rubbing her eyes. The raven raised his head, noticing that his two roommates were already there, which meant that it was already morning. Great, he spent all his night awake imagining the smirking face of Kenny Ackerman belittling him. Way to go, Levi.

"I´m okay" he fastened his gear and got out. While they did their usual work, he thought about this Erwin Smith they were supposed to get rid of. He had to be a great idiot to think that he was going to be able to outsmart the nobles, to win against them in their own game. Levi knew that game well… and he didn´t want to risk playing it. Because, if you risk in that game, the price could be too high.

"You surely don´t look okay" the girl approached him after they returned home, when she was serving him his tea. "Is it your legs? Or did you catch a cold? Levi aniki! Answer me! We have to take you to a hospital!"

"I´m fine, little bird" he patted her head. "I´m just worried about the mission. This time the team sent to stop us was bigger than usual" he frowned. "We won´t have to wait much longer for them to show up."

"Then" Farlan got off the couch, where he was resting. "Let´s make a plan"

"Yes, let´s" Levi got up, annoyed to no end. He didn´t want to go back to the surface, he didn´t want to do anything that would benefit his worst enemy, but he had to. For Farlan and Isabel´s sake, he would do everything. "We will start in this route, the merchants are richer there and surely will be the first ones to hire armed forces to protect them."

"Do you think they would hire the Legion for that? Because I don´t think they accept jobs like the Military Police usually does" the raven looked at his blond friend. "What?"

"Last think I heard, they are preparing for an expedition and need money. In need, they will most likely hunt us for them… or perhaps Lobov already told them he will give them the money and permission they need if they rid his business of a plague… aka us" yes, that was a move any lord would make. "Finding them won´t be too difficult, infiltrating them either… finding the paper is another history."

"Levi aniki… do you think we are going to have to fight the Titans?" Isabel got into the conversation, a little bit scared. Sometimes she heard histories of the Titans from people that were forced to return to the underground.

"No" he answered. "But if we had" he put a hand on her head. "You are more than capable to kill them all" she stared at him with wonder. "Trust your abilities, that´s all you need"

"Yes, aniki!"

-The next day-

"It´s the Military Police" Farlan said once he looked back to their pursuers. Levi was not so sure, their movements were too good for them to belong to the laziest force. He used his gear to peek at their insignias and found the wings of freedom. Finally, he thought. His friends were as eager as him to test their abilities with the gear against them once he told them. They parted ways and he went against the big blond one. He was surprised attacked by the other blond… damn. He grabbed his knife, ready to use it as Kenny taught him.

"You only have two options" Erwin finally told them after he gave them a speech about their crimes and how it would be too easy for them to hand the thieves out to the Police Force, but could gave them a better use if they joined their forces. He was forced to accept… ruminating his hatred for the soldier. And entertaining the thoughts of using his ring to make him bow to him… as he did for many days after that.

"It´s not here" Church commented after he ended the search in their objective´s personal dependences. Isabel and Levi were already in the room, trying preparing their things. "Damn, I wanted to avoid this at all cost, but we are going to need to go to the expedition."

"Chist" the Ackerman got up, exiting the room. He was pretty confident that, with the training he got from Kenny and shared with his friends, the three of them would survive. Unfortunately for them, they would also have to murder a commanding officer in the middle of a formation full of soldiers of the Legion. Well, they could always do it when the Titans were close to eat the evidence away.

"It could be interesting" Isabel said, confident too. Levi smiled… only to damn that confidence after the first day of the expedition. He screamed and slashed and screamed and slashed more of the Titan, but that wasn´t going to change anything. Because he was alive and they no. because he was the one this mission was supposed to kill, he and Erwin Smith, but they were alive and Farlan and Isabel weren´t. And it was all his fault. He could have grabbed his damn ring and get them citizenship, he could have returned and face the consequences… dammit! He could even have married Ulkyn Fucking Reiss without such a fuss! Then they would be alive! Damn him, Damn him, Damn him! DAMMMMIIIITTTTT! WHYYYYYY?!

"… and you will have to live with it" at Erwin´s words, he froze. Yes, he was right. It was his fault that they die. For leaving them alone, for being overconfident, for making such a fuss even if he knew his role, the role Uri gave him… for not giving Isabel her garden of birds and Farlan his honest job when he could… for thinking only about himself. And he will have to live with it. All his live he will have to live with it.

That was the time he decided to follow Erwin Smith and giving him his absolute loyalty, just like Kenny did to Uri before him. he will become a soldier of the Scouting Legion, the best soldier of the humanity, all to help Erwin Smith to achieve his goal. He will find the secret of the Titans… and for that he must also become a player in the big game nobility played, because the blond certainly wasn´t much of that. And he was going to make the first move… visiting the man whose plan murdered his friends instead of him. he opened the door to the cell, staring at the nobleman. He was surprised to see him alive.

"This answers more than I could ask for the first question, you were indeed going to murder me in that mission, along with Erwin Smith" he sat down in front of him. "Apparently your move failed… at least in one part. My friends died and a part of me died with them."

"Did it hurt?" Lobov answered with a smile. And here he thought that at least the stain in the royal family was going to be cleaned… fool of him for not taking those Ackerman genes into accord. "Were those scums screaming in pain?"

"Don´t call my friends scums, you shit" a foot impacted on his chin, sending him to the ground. That man was the true scum in this room and he wasn´t going to allow him to soil his friends´ memories. "I won´t permit you" he sat down again. "Now… was it Rod Reiss? Did he give you the plan to murder me?"

"It was my…"

"Not alone, eh?" he caught the signs of a half lie. "Was it Ulkyn?" again, those signs of nervousness. So his fiancé also has something to do with Farlan and Isabel´s demise. "Thank you"

"Wait!" he got out, walking directly to the place he knew the firstborn of the Reiss family would be. And he found him there, right out of the congress, about to get into a carriage. He hurried up and entered behind him, dodging the guards. To say Ulkyn was surprised to see him there was the least. He showed his ring to the guards, who quickly walked away.

"Leave us" ordered Levi, waiting for them to close the door. "I would say you look surprised to see me here, but I already know why. It was a big show what you did, Ulkyn, but a good play" he stared at him coldly. "Giving Erwin Smith the papers to bring down Lobov, forcing him to get rid of him, when you know he would immediately accept to task me with the mission… clever."

"Two birds, one…" he made a pistol from his fingers. "Hit" the coldness in the air didn´t lower. "And what of the cold aura, you should be happy to see me… your fiancé."

"The day I will be glad to see you is the day hell froze… and likewise apparently" he crossed his arms. "your dad also seemed to have something to do with it, was it because you cried so much that he had to say yes to stop you?"

"Go to hell" the other lose all his joking tone. "Someone still wants us married and won´t give me rest until I walk down the aisle with you. So the option were to kill you or…"

"Were? You still have that option."

"What do you mean?"

"Kill me" he said. "I will stay in the Scouting Legion, there is someone that caught my attention there and I wish to see his dream become true" he stated. "Which is truly a problem, because it gives whoever wants to get rid of me plenty of opportunities to try and do it"

"You are challenging me to kill you?" the Reiss was truly surprised now. "That´s a risky gamble, Ackerman, even with your special blood" he smiled. "Are you sure you want to make such a bet? Against someone like me?"

"Yes, it´s risky… but I am confident that I could win against you" the smile disappeared from his face. "Face it, Ulkyn, you have always been inferior to me, even in this" he approached. "and remember what they say, the more risky the gamble, the more you gain from it. And I am willing to gain it all."

"Fine, I will not interfere with the Scouting Legion anymore" the prince sat down straight again. "They will have all the money and provisions they need for those stupid expeditions. They can go outside and die… and you with them" the carriage stopped. "I guess we now say goodbye."

"Good riddance" answered Levi, getting up.

"Well, I guess it fits. After all, I´m never going to see you again with an advantage as mine" he commented "I have all the opportunities in the world to kill you, but one slip up and you are history… such a delightful game to play, reality games are indeed the best."

"Reality games? We have been playing this game since the very first time you came into this world and I was taken by Uri-san. For nobles, reality is a game, a game we are trained to play since the cradle. I moved, now it´s your turn. Which piece are you going to move? That´s up to you, but you better fear my next movement, because it could be the last."

"…" he left the carriage, leaving a terrified Ulkyn behind. Great, now he had what he wanted and could help Erwin. Besides… there were other things he could do. After all, what could a commoner like the blond know of the great game of nobility? Well, a normal commoner anyway.

"I´m so proud" Kenny, from his hiding place, practically had tears in his eyes after seeing the scene. And he was, the midget was finally acting like a true Ackerman. He stopped running and faced his fiancé, the one he escaped years ago. And now… now he was going to face against the monsters that terrified the humanity for a century. Uri would be so proud too… after he dragged the little shit into the church along with his murderous cousin.

"Hummm, is something the matter, captain?" Traute asked. She went to the library every day and could never find a reason to suspect Ackermans were a special breed. Then again… how could they survive a persecution from the crown itself if not for uniqueness? There was something strange going on there with those Ackermans. They could make the difference… and she would make damn sure that captain Kenny makes the difference.

"No, nothing at all" the Ripper put on his hat, thinking about how horrible it was since Uri died and Frieda became the Queen. "Let´s get back"

-A few years later-

"Retire order?" Levi asked to his squad after the Shiganshina attack. he has been slaughtering Titans since they returned from the expedition, distracting the enemy for the evacuation. It was so hard a work even he was panting. And now… now they received the order to back off into Wall Rose. "About damn time… retire!" he ordered, following Erwin into safety. Once they were all inside, he took a look around. "All well?"

"Yes" Gunther answered, cleaning his mouth. "But we lost many soldiers from the other squads…"

"We always knew that there was going to be loses in a situation like this one… and that´s only the beginning" he clenched his teeth, knowing exactly what the nobles will do. There was not enough food for all the refugees, they will sacrifice some of them to assure the survival of the rest… dammit… "Anyway, we have to rest."

"What a great experience, no Levi?!" Hanji Zoe appeared a few seconds later, making his eyebrow twitch. He wanted to sleep, goddammit, not listening to the damn four eyes. "The Titans around us… running… fighting…" she salivated a bit. "I want to catch one and play with him!"

"Four eyes…"

"And talking about Titans" Mike entered the conversation that moment. "The Colossal and Armoured ones really caused some damages. Their earthquakes reached Wall Sina!" he whistled. "I was told by a Garrison member that some of the constructions were damaged in there and even one chapel felt, apparently on it´s owners head" the Ackerman just ignored him. "It belonged to a noble family, Reit or Raisss or…"

"Reiss?" suddenly was interested… and terrified. Could he really be talking about…

"Yes! That one" Oh, shit… Oh, god… he tried to keep his cold façade, but his hands were trembling. Uri-san, Frieda, Kenny if he was with them… could they be dead? "they were all praying inside and the ceiling fall right on top of them. Only the father survived."

"The… father…" Levi felt that his knees will fail him. Uri-san, Frieda… why was Rod the only one that survived? Why couldn´t any of the others do it? Hell, even his annoying fiancé, even Rainy, but… why? "I… I´m going to my room" he excused himself, trying to escape while he was still in control of his mood. "I need to sleep"

"Captain, are you alright?" Gunther asked.

"Yes, I´m just tired. Goodnight" he closed his door, thanking his luck for having one for himself. There he felt down to the floor, biting his hand to keep from screaming. The same despair from when Farlan and Isabel died, from when his mother died… it was there again. He breathed hard in and out, trying to stop the rush of emotion inside of his body. But he couldn´t… he couldn´t be right. Because he was useless again and just lost his family.

"No…" he cried quietly, wanting a strong liquor and a tea, but couldn´t get up to get them… not like this. Not after he learned of the demise of Uri-san and probably his uncle. "This can´t be…"

-Months later-

"The 49 expedition has begun!" with Erwin´s words, the Legion proceed to go into the Shiganshina district, now plagued by Titans. Levi get to the front, eager to find some Titans with whom discharge some of the anger he was feeling since Uri and Frieda´s demise. But he wasn´t going to do it. Especially because he wasn´t going to put his men at risk… unfortunately Hanji wasn´t thinking the same.

"Yahooo!" the four eyes was too excited. And how she showed that? Running after a titan against Erwin´s orders. Grunting, Levi followed her to bring her back. After saving Oulo from a Eccentric type and Hanji´s stupidity, he grabbed the woman by the neck and screamed at her to drum some sense inside of her skull… until they found something.

"Ymir?" he asked, remembering that book from years ago. The big tree trunk with the hole he used to use as a hiding place, the afternoon little Frieda went to him for a ride to Mytras and what he saw in the book. Ymir, the girl receiving the apple from the demon. The forbidden apple… could that history have something to do with the Titans? And how? What was that book doing in the Reiss library anyway? Especially if it was about the origin of the Titans…

"Do you see? They are great, Levi!" Hanji screamed the next expedition, when they captured some Titans. Not for the first time, he was tempted to return to the house of his childhood and grab that specific book. "We will get amazing data from them…"

"What… are they specifically?"

"Hummm?"

"Nothing" he retired, thinking about the history. Ymir accepting the forbidden apple… did that turned her into a monster? Was she still in some place, creating Titans? Or they reproduce some other way? He wished Uri-san had answered those questions. Still, he couldn´t afford to get distracted. The nobles were becoming difficult to handle since Ulkyn´s death. The game changed it´s rules… this was time to play dirty.

"Dear Rod-san…" he started to write, grabbing the ring from the back of his drawer. He sealed the letter and sent it in secret, hiding the ring again, to be forgotten. He wasn´t going to need it anymore… or so he thought.

-End of the Flashback-

"I need another pen… where is Moblit when one needs him?" Hanji Zoe was late to meet Levi and his brats. She entered the captain´s room in search of said writing instrument. She grabbed the desk´s drawer´s handle, but stopped before pulling it. She knew Levi didn´t like when someone was revolting his things and the clean freak would surely notice if her dirty fingers left some kind of impression on the wooden surface. "Well… I don´t think he will mind" she tried to convince herself and pulled the drawer a little too hard. There was the damn pen, tangled into some kind of cord. "Oh, to hell with this" she pulled the pen with the cord… and out came a ring. A ring with a symbol she knew to hearth since the beginning of their uprising. "What the…"

"Hanji-san?" someone called and she reacted quickly, hiding the evidence in her pocket. She walked down the stairs trying to make some sense out of that mess. Why did Levi have a ring with the royal house symbol? And it was a damn fancy and costly thing, made on gold. She calmed herself a bit, breathing hard. No one knew much about Levi except that he was annoyingly loyal to Erwin. Even in the underground, where she asked once. Farlan and Isabel perhaps knew, but they weren´t there to ask anymore. And… and… his reaction when they were informed the Reiss family died after Shiganshina district fell… was there some connection between Levi and the royal family? She had to find out. "Where to? Levi-heicho…"

"He can wait a few minutes more" she knew someone else that could answer some questions, even if the man was in jail and she never met him personally. "To the jail" she jumped and went towards the awful place. "You have some answers to give" she said to Lobov. "How did you get in contact with Levi when you sent him after Erwin´s life? Why did you choose him between the assassins at hand? When did you meet him?"

"So many questions" the old congressman stretched in his tiny room.

"What relation does he had to the Reiss family?" she answered, not hearing his annoying complaints. He smiled, recognizing an opportunity to repair the mistaken he made those years ago.

"Ohhhh, I was waiting for someone to ask that question" the man said in a sweet voice. "I was expecting for someone to ask that sooner, but you commoners are…" Hanji just stared at him. "Well… me and dear Levi met in a party at the capital many years ago. I was trying to get him engaged to a relative of mine… it could have been a good match, but he ended up engaged to his cousin, Ulkyn-sama."

"Ulkyn-sama? Engaged?" she asked without comprehending. "What are you talking about? He was a thug from the underground, what could he be doing in a noble party?"

"Noble people always knew each other from society events" Hanij was petrified. Levi… a noble? That irascible captain… a highborn lord? That can´t be. It was just… just so crazy… "Yes, before becoming that criminal from the underground, he was a highborn noble."

"And… what…?"

"What happened? Nobody knows" Lobov lied. Everybody knew what happened. "One night he was one of us, with a perfect life, a great engagement in Ulkyn-sama… that was a shame, truly, but the king decided to keep it between family."

"Ulkyn?" she repeated. "King?"

"Prince Ulkyn Reiss, firstborn nephew of late King Uri Reiss" he smiled in the darkness. "You really didn´t knew? Levi Ackerman is the only son of Uri Reiss" it hit her hard. "He got military training from a crazy guy who used to be his majesty´s bodyguard… Kenny I think was his name."

"That… can´t…" Hanji exited the cell, not wanting to believe it. But now all the pieces were mysteriously falling into place. Levi´s ability to read peoples thoughts, Levi´s knowledge of politics, the ring seal in his drawer, the military training despite not being in a training corps, his reaction when he heard that the Reiss family died… she calmed a bit down, breathing hard in and out. Lobov has to be lying, she knew Levi and he couldn´t be…

"Hanji-san?" Moblit asked.

"To the registers" she asked. After a few hours she was in Wall Sina´s registers, searching desperately for documents about the Reiss family. She found the birth and decease certificates of all children of Rod Reiss, including Ulkyn and Frieda. The woman continued digging, finally finding Uri Reiss´ decease certificate in there. He was king until a few years ago… probably Rod or Ulkyn succeeded him… no, according to that guard it was Frieda. Why? She could not know. Then she found another paper. "What is…" her eyes widened. It was not as Lobov implied, but he was somehow telling the truth. There was the proof, an adoption with Levi´s name. Uri Reiss adopted Levi Ackerman when he was like seven years old. "I… this…"

"Hey, squad head…" she passed the man again and couldn´t think straight in that moment. Levi was a Reiss, maybe not by blood, but he was raised by them. The Reiss were his family… she moved her feet quickly, only thinking that she needed to tell Erwin about this. She didn´t know who the corporal was really loyal to, to the Corps commander or to the King. They were not related by blood but sometimes people can be more loyal to adoptive families than blood ones.

"I need to get to Erwin…"

"The commander is under arrest" the young guy answered, surprising her. She gritted her teeth and decided that, now that Levi was her only support, she will give him the benefit of the doubt… and the one to explain himself after all this mess was over. In other part, said Ackerman was recovering from some injuries sustained in his fight with Kenny… damn that uncle of his, not even age was softening him. what was Kenny doing working for Rod anyway? They didn´t even like each other! Besides… Kenny was loyal to Uri and only Uri.

"Captain, are you alright?" asked Sasha, who has taken care of his injuries. He nodded. "Who was that guy? He scared me…"

"Kenny the Ripper" he answered, practically spitting the name. then he turned to Jean. "Next time when face with one of his men, don´t doubt" he instructed, while Kirstein had the decency to look ashamed. "Okay, now we have to get inside Reiss territory" he got up. "Don´t doubt or you will get killed."

"Ehhhhh… captain, do you know where we have to go?" asked Armin. He had a faint idea. The place where Uri-san said he would be buried one day, down the stairs in the old collapsed chapel where Frieda and the others died. But he couldn´t just say that…

Hello! I finally found inspiration on this fic! I hope you like this chapter! Review!


	4. Chapter 4

Hanji was trying to reach Levi when she bumped into Flegel Reeves, who got himself on trouble. She saved him and quickly hide in a roof, remembering Erwin´s secret message in the headquarters. The negotiations with Pixis failed, the Legion was being framed, she was the commanding officer for now and Levi had liberty of movement. Damn, this was not her day. And after Flegel´s history even less. She didn´t know what to do now, but one thing was sure: It wasn´t time to distrust a fellow scout. Less of Levi.

"I´m here!" she said when she finally reunited with her companions along with the CEO of Reeves Company. Levi was there, waiting for news. She bit her tongue before she could ask him who he was truly loyal to. And she was glad for that, as the woman learned that they have been trying to get into Reiss territory from Stohess without success. Then there was another encounter with Kenny, in which the Ripper killed three of their men.

"Woow, you are late, four eyes" answered Levi, not moving much. Sasha was still sewing his wounds shut as best as she could in the current circumstances. She decided to act normally, as the midget would get on a fit if he knew she was touching his things. "What´s with piggy there?"

"Well… he us a witness to the murder of the CEO of Reeves agency, so I had to get him into safety" probably this wasn´t the best place, not now that she knew one of Levi´s secrets. Specially not with the proofs in her pocket. "Thinking about it, perhaps I should take our witness to a safer location, there are wanted posters with your face flying around the city" then she decided to throw something that would keep the other occupied. "Levi, Erwin was taken by the MP."

"Really?" he clenched his teeth. It was the first notice he had of his commander´s arrest. His expression turned sour, with barely contained rage. Pixies was not going to help them, the commander was in the MP´s power and his damn uncle was running amok in the city hunting the Scouts… damn. "How much time do you think we have?"

"Excuse me?"

"To kill an organization, kill the head first, that you know better than anyone" he continued remembering his lessons. "Just like with a snake" he looked at his hand for a second. "So… how much time do you think we have until the farce of a trial is over and the hanging takes place?"

"The hang…" Hanji quickly got back to her poker face. "I have something in mind that could work to gain us time and I would be an idiot to think that Erwin doesn´t have a plan on his own" she smiled. "Well! I will follow with my plan. You continue your assignment; the commander gave you liberty of movement for now" she grabbed Flegel again, walking outside. "Take care! Don´t die!"

"Chist" was the only sound he made. Liberty of movement, eh? Since when was he not free to move? Erwin was a good soldier and a good tactician, but he sucked in the politic aspect. Levi had always dealt with the nobles in his stead, in the shadows, alone and with the knowledge a live in the nobility gave him. But now… now it was different. The difference was that he could no longer act alone… this was an open rebellion and people with him weren´t exactly in the best of shapes.

"What is it, captain?" asked Conie, entering the stable. "Does Hanji-san bring new information to you?"

"The commander has been captured by the MP and soon will have an audience with the fake king, where those old fools will condemn him to death and disband the Scouting Legion" he kept his coldness while saying so, a test to his self control. "Reunite everyone, we need to talk. And tell Armin to start preparing dinner… no, Arlet is not feeling well, no? Tell Jean to do it."

"Okay" the boy said, not feeling sure if he should do it. Jean wasn´t known for preparing good meals, but he was patrolling, Sasha was not to be trusted with food, Levi was injured, Mikasa taking care of Armin and the last one puking. Kirstein was the last option. "Hey, Jean! You have to prepare dinner!"

"It´s my punishment? Just that?" the other commented in a low tone, standing by the horses. He was looking grim… well, grimmer than usual. "Don't I deserve more? Tell me, Connie."

"What are you talking about?" he asked in confusion. Then saw the other side, where a clear picture of Armin puking his guts out was seen. "Armin? Jean, it was not your fault. He decided to pull that trigger, not you."

"I made him decide that" admitter the other. "I doubted, she was going to kill me… so he had to save me and pulled his trigger first, ending her. It was just… She… God, I still see her face. And then my conscience tells me that I´m not fit to be a soldier, that because I doubted my friend was forced to stain his hands with blood… it should have been me, not Armin."

"Jean, it was not…"

"I´m truly disgusting" he continued to beat himself. "I didn´t want to kill human… I put my comrades in danger because I didn't want to dirty my hands… I should have pulled that trigger and get that dealt with…"

"Jean" the other grabbed his hands. "The past is in the past, leave it there. If you did a mistake, then next time don´t do it again and pull the trigger. Beating yourself like this is not going to solve anything" the sandy blond stared at him. "It´s going to be alright. We will find Eren and Historia and next time… you won´t doubt."

"Yes… I will not" he started walking towards the stable. "Thank you, Conie. I felt a little better" he stretched. "I´m going to apologize or my mistake later and assure you that next time" he clenched his fist. "Next time, if someone is threatening my friends, I won´t doubt to kill them"

"That´s what I wanted to hear!" Conie rushed to his place. "Now go and make something good. God knows we need something yummy."

"Right away" he started chopping some ingredients to make a soup. It wasn´t as good as his mother´s, but it wasn´t awful either. They started eating, with Armin still a little bit unsettled by his actions before. "Armin… captain… I´m sorry for… for… failing to pull the trigger" he finally said. "I didn´t want to kill humans, it was not the reason I chose the Scouting Legion, but…"

"It´s in the past" finally Levi talked to his men. "You didn´t pull the trigger because you didn´t want to dirty your hands, no?" he lowered his head. Then the conversation changed. "Do you know why Armin had enough time to save you by shooting her?" he shook his head, making the captain look at the other one involved. "Do you?"

"Because… because she doubted in those few seconds… enough for me to put a bullet through her head" answered the Arlet, shaking a bit.

"Correct, she doubted and she lost" said the captain with a cold tone. "In situations like this, the people that doubts lose and they won´t survive." He looked at all of them. "But the past is in the past. Next time you won´t lose, no?"

"No" Jean said, sure of himself now. "I´m not letting anything stop me now"

"Good… because we have work to do" Levi continued to talk, but his mind kept going back to the place he was usually taken when he was little. He remembered Uri-san carrying him one of the few times he allowed himself being carried, when he was so little… the chapel that was one of the most valued belonging of the royal family. It was a pretty one, he came to appreciate it´s beauty. And… it was the place where Uri, Kenny and him passed their first few true moments as a family. He missed those moments too.

"One day, down the floor of this chapel" the voice of the past came to him, surprising the Ackerman for a bit. "I will be buried along with my ancestors in a place with a beauty so pristine that shines like a crystal" the whisper made him feel at ease despite the dread of his godfather´s death they brought. "With my father and my grandfather and all the Reiss before me… that day a new protector of humanity will be birthed… do you understand?"

"Captain" Armin addressed him, taking him out of his memories. He looked at them with his usual poker face, giving them his assurance that everything was okay with him. "We were talking about the plan to get inside Reiss territory. Perhaps if we try to get into it by boat, we can be able to…"

"No, that won´t do. In a boat we won´t have space to outmanoeuvre them if they find us or to escape" the commanding officer finally ruled out that plan. Besides… Kenny would be expecting something like that. After all, he used a boat to escape the capital last time he was escaping. "And it´s better if we take out the central MP before getting into the lion´s den."

"But that´s impossible" Jean made himself heard. "For that, we would have to get inside their headquarters and there is no way we could simply get in."

"No… unless we surprise some members of the MP and use them to get in" everybody was listening carefully now. "Okay, here is the deal. We are fugitives and they are expecting some of us to be hiding somewhere. So, if they find someone with the cape of the Legion, then they will…" they tensed. "But in that second the rest of us could surprise the agents from behind and capture them, it depends on the numbers."

"And the experience, but I doubt there is an agent in the MP that could match the ability of captain Levi and Mikasa" the Arlet talked again. "They have to be the first to appear from behind to prevent any contingence. Sasha, Jean and Conie are the best shooters, so they have to be behind them. That leaves… me as the bait."

"Armin…"

"No, I will do it" the blond said smiling, getting up and grabbing a bucket. "There is little I wouldn´t do for Eren" he showed them the bucket. "The trap will be at the riverside. It´s a believable place to be, everybody needs water, including fugitives" he laughed without humour. "And it´s usually patrolled by new recruit without much combat experience" he continued. "There are trees too… yes, perfect place."

"I understand. You will be surprised getting water from the river… then we jump in."

"You got it" he smiled. They continued talking about the plan, until Jean replaced Sasha in the guarding duty. They all went to sleep a bit. In the middle of Levi´s dream, that same memory of the chapel appeared over and over again. He opened his eyes early and went to replace Jean. He sat down in the grass, trying to tidy his thoughts. Historia and Eren were kidnapped and he needed to recover them… wait, Historia. Historia Reiss, the bastard daughter born in Mytras… the farmhouse he took Frieda a couple of times… could it be that she was visiting Historia? Yes, more than likely. And the chapel, Uri-san´s tomb…the power of Eren´s cries… where did it come from? Was it… from the Reiss family? "Captain? We are ready"

"Good" he got up, pushing those thoughts aside. They quickly went to the river, where Armin waited to hear someone coming close. Then he walked to the river and started to take some water from the river. The blond then felt the rifles being pointed at him. he turned around, ready for what was going to come. He collected the arms, grabbing them and changing into the MP´s uniform. Much to his surprise, Marlowe and Hitch showed to be valuable allies.

"What did you tell Jean to convince him that you wanted to help?" asked Armin while walking towards the centre headquarters of MPs. Jean wasn´t a person to easily trust people, especially not after all the problem with Reiner and Berthold… well, he didn´t think anyone in the unite were anymore.

"I honestly told him the truth" Marlow suddenly acted as if they have lifted a weight on his shoulder. "You see, the reason I joined the military police was to clean the organization from the corruption that plagued it" he suddenly was serious. "Just now I realised that I joined the wrong corps. I should have stayed with all of you in that damn bonfire and swore my oaths to the Survey corps… the ones that are truly making something to change the world."

"It seems like something very noble" the blond continued, following Mikasa. She might give the impression that she was ignoring them, but he could tell she was hearing them carefully, evaluating the two captives. "And you?"

"Because Marlow is here" Hitch answered, too honest for they liking. "And because I don´t believe you… about Annie…." He sobbed. "That couldn´t be…"

"We can show you the proofs if you want" offered the tactician, trying to stop the noises she was making. "We can even take you to her if that isn´t enough to make you believe us. She isn´t really talking, but at least that will ease your…"

"Even if you do that… I won´t believe you… not at first" she continued. "I was her roommate… her things are still in my room… waiting for her return… I don´t know what I would do if you showed me… the proof that she was a monster… I would probably not believe it even if the truth was showed in front of me."

"I think I can understand you" he was the same when confronted with Reiner and Berthold at first.

"Then I probably would start hitting her and screaming how much of a monster she was" Hitch added, still serious and enraged. "I would ask her why didn´t she eat me, why did she killed so many people, why she came here… and I would grab all the things of her in our room, even that nice hair ornament I gifted her once, throw them from the windows and set them on fire, right in front of everyone" she clenched his teeth. "I would grab my gear and kill that monster, no matter what you say."

"We are here" Marlow finally said. Hearing his usually disperse and annoying partner talking like that was surely creeping him out. It was as if she was replaced by a complete different person. "Now, if we are going to enter, you have to be…"

"We know" Armin braced himself. "Let´s begin the operation"

-In another place-

"You continue talking like that?" Erwin Smith was in front of the representatives of the government, knowing full well what was going to happen in a few minutes. Hanji will have a plan too, one that would somehow fit with his own… ahhh, there it was. A female Garrison member announcing that Wall Rose was breached again by Reiner and Berthold. It was a believable thing... according to Zackley, who was waiting by the door.

"Close the door of Wall Sina!" predictably, the fat bastard of a minister decided to save himself and his precious interests before saving half of the humanity. Nile and Pixis then finally decided to act, along with Zackley, revealing his presence there. The Commander in chief gave the order to imprison them, then proclaimed the truth to the world, freeing his fellow soldier from the execution.

"I guess we are friends again" commented Dokk, pulling him back to his feet. "And be sure that your men are going to know about it. I will immediately send someone to free all the people we have in the cells."

"Thank you" he finally was given to a doctor, who said he had a few bruises, but nothing serious. After the proclamation, the commander found the people of Trost already knew the Legion was innocent, as the testimony of Flegel Reeves already counter the declarations of the central MP. Good one, Hanji.

"Now we have to talk about a few more things" Pixis, Dokk, Zackley and him reunited immediately after he put his corps back to work. "In first place, the royal government is going to be punished for the abuse of power they commit, but they had too many supporters between the nobility. Many of them have powerful places… those ones will have to go. The others can stay, but we have to name some houses of our entire trust and give them new places of power."

"Is there even a noble house we can entirely trust?" Nile was the first one to talk. "A few of them had their sons in the MP, but only because it is the best way to gain power. And I doubt those officers are coming out of this with their uniforms, as the military police is also going through a cleansing"

"I agree on that, your officers had been taking too many liberties of late" the commander in chief passed the page. "Now that we have stated that, I guess the matter of the central MP is still standing" he lowered his papers. "Right now they suffered like twelve loses and probably will suffer even more, but they are still powerful assets… I think we should put them to work under you, Nile."

"Are you crazy?" Pixis suddenly spoke up. "Those bastards are murderers, accustomed to eliminate everyone that threatened their precious ideal world… or the king´s mad dream of a caged world. We can´t trust them."

"I agree with Pixis" Erwin said and a very strange look was directed at him. What the hell was he looking at him like that?

"Really, Erwin? When your own corporal was once a member of them?" this were news to Erwin, as soon became obvious for everyone. "Well, not officially. We have talked with at least three detained members of the anti-personnel squad and, after a hard interrogation, we found out all of them knew a "Captain Ackerman", their leader."

"Levi was not…"

"I don´t know, but we are conducting an investigation. Until now, we only found out that there is a relation between the name Ackerman and the central MP" Zackley continued. "Do you have an idea of where he is?"

"I haven´t contacted Hanji or Levi in days thanks to my time in jail, but I can tell you that I trust both of them with my life. We won´t be betrayed" he was making a confidence vote, one he hoped he wouldn´t regret later. "And if there is more to Levi´s past than…"

"Commander!" someone entered in that moment. it was the same officer that gave the announcement. "We finally have a name to the leader of the anti-personnel squad. It was the famed serial killer Kenny The Ripper Ackerman"

"Kenny… Ackerman?" Erwin Smith thought for some seconds. This ruled out Levi as a member of the anti-personnel squad, but… was that Kenny family to him? Ackerman was not a common last name, so they must be. Well, this was not time to doubt one another, he had to trust Levi, even if he was going after his family.

"We haven´t found other relations with captain Ackerman from the Survey Corps, perhaps they are distant relatives or something like that." She commented.

"I guess that eases your insecurities, Erwin" Zackley got up. "We have to reinforce the Walls and sent squads to find Eren and Princess Historia, they are the key to sealing our triumph. If we don´t do it… all will be for naught" They all looked grim, knowing exactly why. The Tita power that erased memories of mankind… that was terrifying. "Erwin, come with me."

"Yes" Erwin readied himself for a chat he wanted to have with the commander in chief since the revolution began. It surprised him that he was to eager to help overthrow monarchy after faithfully serving them for a lifetime…

-In other parts-

"Tie him up" Levi ordered, seeing the soldier of the central MP, who looked as surprised as anyone. Hanji arrived, a little bit worried after she heard that Levi´s squad entered the place. What she found surprised her in the good way.

"Great, news, Erwin is safe" she told them, earning a sigh of relieve from the brats after they heard that they were not fugitives anymore. The grump didn´t show any emotion, not even anger at the commander´s risky gamble, but she could tell he was relieved and a little bit angry too. And thinking about it, perhaps she should sneak in his room before he notices and hide the ring again, as she didn´t want to bring the midget´s rage over her. "And we have an idea about where the princess and Eren might be."

"Where?" he already knew the answer. The chapel. The chapel was where they were… or maybe underneath it. Unfortunately, he wasn´t ready for the next set of news, about Eren being devoured by his friend. Devoured… then a dreaded thought came to his mind, about Uri-san and the way he died. He stopped it before losing his composure.

"A chapel" she answered as he thought. "It´s an ancient construction. It felt after Wall María fell, some say because of the tremors of the Titans, but the official version was that bandits attacked the place. The family was reunited inside, the only survivor was the lord." Yes, he remember that. He too remembered the way he collapsed after finding out. "I´m not so sure, bandits wouldn´t destroy the edification… less a stone one."

"No, there won´t be need" he continued with his train of thought. Titans can gain shifter abilities after eating a shifter… Reiss family had some strange ritual of burying their death ones under the chapel… Uri-san´s words… Uri-san… could it be that his godfather was a shifter before he died? The king in the Walls? Meanwhile, Armin was also thinking about it. Eren was a shifter… Titans have to eat shifters to become shifters themselves… so who was the one Eren ate? And from where came that strange ability of controlling Titans?

"Approaching!" Hitch announced, still a bit angry about the Annie thing. The blond nodded and searched around the construction once it came into view. Nothing was out of place… except for a rug. Levi remembered it and the time he pulled it under Rod´s feet, making him fall on his face on Florian´s presentation ceremony. And the door to a secret passage inside.

"Woow, how did you find out, captain?"

"Just get inside and follow the plan" The ones with gear got in first. Hanji was watching Levi´s back all the time, trying to think about what she could say. The man remained loyal even when the Corps seemed lost and fought for it´s survival against his last family… she wanted to apologize for doubting of him. "Hanji, keep your head on the mission"

"Ye… yeah" she answered, knowing that the anti-personnel squad was down there preparing a trap was getting to the newbies nerves. "Well, release the special surprise first, then Levi and Mikasa begin. Remember what we talked about the limitations of the new gear. Keep yourselves in the smoke and attack from the back."

"Sound like cowardly actions" Jean commented. He didn´t like the plan one bit, but they needed to recover Eren before he could get eaten. It was for the sake of humanity. He prepared himself, watching the oil barrels roll in the cave. Sasha set them on fire with her flaming arrow, giving them cover. Armin, from behind, prepared to shot the signals. He jumped right after Levi, appearing behind a soldier and slicing him. There wasn't any doubt in his eyes, any regret for now. Traute saw this, clenching her teeth.

"Levi Ackerman… and that should be Mikasa Ackerman" the woman suddenly remembered her fruitless search for any notes related to the Ackerman clan. The only thing she found was that they used to be the "hounds of war" of the royalty, but for some reason were persecuted after a disagreement with the King. Even so… there truly had to be something special about them for it´s members to fight so well. "Captain…" she then saw Hanji, grinning like a maniac. "I will have to show them."

"Hey, girl!" Hanji, moved herself, trying to cut Traute. Unfortunately, a double shot from the MP officer made her move. This confused the squad chief, making her fully engage the other woman. This proved to be a big mistake, as her shoulder was impacted by a harpoon. She was injured enough to be put out of the mission… "No fair… I have to go…"

"Armin, take care of Hanji" ordered the captain, moving back into the fray. "We have to keep advancing"

"Understood!" the blond said before shooting another signal to confuse the assassins. The glasses woman saw him leave, wanting to be by his side. He was fighting his family for them and it wasn´t fair that he did it alone… well, not alone, but without one of his closest friends. She need to be there for him. "Hanji-san! Don´t move!"

"Armin, I…" then they disappeared. Levi was advancing towards the depth of the cave, noticing the shining stones around him. Uri was right, that place had with a beauty so pristine that shines like a crystal. He thought about the former king and how he spent his last moments on earth… who was the one that ate him? Was it Ulkyn? Or another of the children? He didn´t know and it was stupid to ask. They were all dead.

"Captain!" Jean screamed, signalling the deep end with his blade. Historia was throwing away from herself a syringe full of liquid. It landed on the floor intact and Rod tried to grab it. Levi took a knife out of his pocket and threw it, earning a shrill scream from the fat man as his precious syringe broke.

"Humanity is best extinct!" Historia ended a proclamation, trying to free Eren from his chains in a frantic attempt to escape herself. The commanding officer knew that she didn´t really mean it, she was just trying to take the brat out of his suicidal thoughts, but he needed her to stop. He quickly arrived by Eren´s side along with Jean and Connie. Suddenly everything shook… Rod licked the liquid out of the ground.

"He is turning into a Titan!" Connie stated the obvious, finally managing to free the shifter. "Hot! Hot!" they flattened themselves against the wall when the horribly hot air hit them. "We can´t cut his nape with this hot shield!"

"Worse, he appears to be twice the size as the Colossal Titan" the Ackerman muttered calmly. It was a surprising turn of events that Rod Reiss, the coward Rod Reiss, finally grew up a pair and decided to become a Titan himself. A man willing to sacrifice his daughters to save himself wasn´t really prone to do that.

"Shit, Rod!" in other part of the cave, his uncle was trying to survive. Kenny tried to use his gear to escape through the entrance, but much to his surprise, it was already collapsing. He tried to get back, only to see his team trying to get to him. "Don´t come, fools!" he tried to grasp them, but something impacted him, throwing him against the now hardening titan, missing the stone by a centimetre. The raven raised his head only to find Traute, hurt but alive, and himself under the cover of a titanic hand. His entire team apart from her was crushed. "Dammit… why did you do it?"

"Because… you are important to me" she said. Kenny raised an eyebrow, as they weren´t even involved romantically. For him, there was only one person in the whole universe that can make his black hearth beat and that person was long dead. "Who else is going to answer my questions about the Ackerman clan?"

"Hummm… cheeky girl" he said, getting to his feet. Traute was now unconscious, signalling that it was time to search for medical help… which means to get up. He tried to move, only to find out that he was injured too. He searched around in his body… auch. Burns and some broken bones, so he might get out of this. "We need to get out of this" he painfully used his gear to get out of the hole, trying not to make a sound. "Dammit… that fatso brother of yours actually did a good one, Uri" he commented fondly when a necklace slipped out of his coat. "You win this one… as always, king."

-On the open field-

"Rod Reiss! Hear me!" Eren was trying to control the Titan while Historia quickly blurted to Hanji what she found out about the Titan power from her father. Her teammates were looking worried, as the colossal mass that was once her dad was now dragging itself towards the Orvud district ready to repeat the tragedy of five years ago.

"Levi!" Erwin Smith appeared out of nowhere, asking for a report. Unfortunately, his right hand man didn´t have much to report, now tasked with the obligation of getting rid of the former king. Hanji was still feeling sorry for him, but she really didn´t need to be. He obviously wasn´t enough attached to the man to regret his death. "Let´s get inside the wall and make a plan."

"We don´t have much time, Erwin" the raven kept his eyes on Uri´s beloved older brother. Even now, the man was such a coward… not engaging the military forces and going after the civilians instead was only meant for a coward.

"I know, but the Garrison already saw him and I think they are freaking. We need to retreat and explain the situation to them now" he was right, the garrison already thought that this was the end to humanity. Fortunately, Erwin managed to get them under control. The younger members were dispatched to take the civilians away from the confrontation and the more experienced ones were put in charge of the cannons on top of the wall. "now, for our plan…"

"Sir, I truly think that I should let myself get eaten by Rod Reiss" Eren said, surprising everybody in the room. "we talked about it in the way here, with that he might become human again and then he will use the power of the Founding Titan to save…"

"Didn´t we go through this on the way here too?" Levi suddenly got in. He wouldn´t trust Rod Reiss with a fork, let alone the fate of humanity. And he knew the man better than anyone in the room. "He is a coward and a douchebag who would sacrifice his daughters to survive himself, first Frieda and then Historia" he signalled the last one. "Would you trust mankind to that kind of person?" the shifter shook his head. "Then stop complaining and listen to the plan."

"Returning to it, the Garrison should be enough to stop him while we prepare everything" Erwin returned once Eren calmed down. "First, I need Hanji and Mobit to accommodate some barrels of explosives in Three Dimension Manoeuvring gears to cut his wrists once he grasps the wall."

"Grasp the wall?" Jean was surprised. "Why are we going to let that Titan damage the Walls? That will surely cause panic in the civilians, even if we evacuate them…"

"It´s risky, I know, but… he need to make him show his mouth and that´s not going to happen unless he finds a support point" the blond commander said, shaking his head. "Then, Eren, you have the next part of the plan. We will make a net with ropes and put all explosives we can find inside of it. With the body temperature of that thing, they will surely explode once they hit it´s skin."

"I… well…"

"Come on, Eren" Armin told him, hearing the cannonballs of the Garrison hit the monstrous thing. "We have to prepare everything."

"Yes" he saw everybody carrying gunpowder up, tying up knots on the ropes and putting the powder inside of it. Then the Jeager noticed some children in the floor, staring up at the sky, much like they were when Berthold first arrived to the Shiganshina district. He commented this to Armin, who said that now was different because they were there to protect them. It looked very ridiculous, especially because he said those words while he poured some water on himself. And damn if he was right. "Yes, you are right"

"What?"

"That you are right" the brunette started hitting himself with all his might. Historia´s way of acting really shocked him, making him realise how weak he was… but that doesn´t mean that he had to act like a brat and simply giving up! Time to man up! He hit himself even harder to completely kill his doubts.

"Okay, we are ready" the Garrison still fired it´s arms. The Titan was about to grab the wall, causing some panic in the city inside the wall. The blades were out, all except Eren. The Queen also got ready, even if this was a difficult decision for her. He still could picture her face when she was told that they were going to need to kill her father.

"Remember, Eren" Armin got into position. "This Titan probably will have a mouth he is unable to close, so you need to show it inside of his mouth before he gets down again. This will blow up even his nape, which will give us the opportunity to cut the true body."

"Historia…"

"Whatever happens…" she started, showing her fearless face. "I will be the one to deliver the finishing blow. I will be a true queen, the Queen In the Walls my sister couldn´t be because of the ghost of the First King… and I will bring humanity to it´s feet again" she continued, showing her teeth. "So don´t worry, Eren, I don´t plan on dying here just for dear old daddy."

"Yeah, I see" he definitely could follow a queen like her. And he will do that. He will act like the knight of this queen, fighting the Titans and bringing humanity to it´s feet, just like she told him. "Time to finish this… ROD REISS!" he screamed. "COME HERE, YOU BASTARD!"

"Wait up… now!" Levi gave the signal when the wrists were flexing. The former king´s wrists exploded and his colossal head went down. Eren took a moment and then ran towards the Titan, quickly thrusting the explosives in his mouth. The Legion attacked, trying to find the nape. Jean turned around in the air, noticing a chunk of flesh smoking like…

"Historia!" he screamed when he saw his friend going towards it, delivering the killing blow herself… to her own father. Memories seem to flash before her eyes as she did so, losing control in the air and falling over some sacks. The people congregate around her, trying to get a glance at the heroine. She got to her feet.

"I´m Historia Reiss… the true ruler of this walls" she presented herself. And while the citizens admired their queen, both her and the captain were thinking the same thought: good riddance, Rod Reiss!

Tell me, who was waiting to say this at the end of the insurrection arc? A man like Rod surely deserves to be cut down by his own daughter, no? I´m so waiting for this escene in the anime! Review!


	5. Chapter 5

"Dammit, I need to take a shit" Kenny finally awoke. He was in an illuminated room, with Traute in the other bed next to his. He tried to move his hands, but they were tied up to his bed, obviously by a material hard enough to contain an Ackerman. He pulled it, trying to broke the chains without success.

"I see that you finally awoke… shithead" the Ripper could laugh. He turned around and saw his spoiled brat of a nephew, as he liked to call Levi, sitting down next to his bed. "You better don´t stand up, my subordinates found you near the hole in the ground, dragging that girl with you, with a few ribs broken" he signalled. "You better rest for now."

"Midget, you have a talent for saying the obvious" the taller Ackerman said, pulling the chains once more. "Can you unbind your dear old uncle? My broken ribs would really appreciate it."

"Chist, as if I want to free a savage beast in Mytras" his nephew answered, getting annoyed. The other was about to comment how much he could see Kuchel in him, when he brought up a necklace with two fingers. Kenny´s face turned from smug to sour. "Nice necklace, by the way. Who gave you such an adorable thing?"

"Give it back"

"And to think that my dear old uncle Kenny, the Ripper of the capital, actually has something like this" he continued teasing him, tasting revenge for all those years Kenny spent calling him a spoiled brat. "And look at this" he opened the locket. "how cute! You have a drawing of… is it Uri-san?" he continued looking at the drawing. It was a very good tiny portrait of the deceased king. "And the other…" this shocked him for a second. "Me? Are you serious?"

"Blame Uri, he gave it to me that way. he thought I would miss your shit face when he wasn´t around anymore" he turned around as much as the chains allowed him. he remembered that last year of life, so full of… of crisis and despair. For him, Uri was not just a king and a friend, he was a lover, his one true love. years after his passing, he still held the title. It was just as his old grandpa told him, an Ackerman gave his loyalty and his hearth just once in live. But careful, the hearth is not the same as the loyalty.

"Well, I guess you missed him more than me" he closed the locket, putting it in the drawer next to his sickbed. "By the way, your destiny was already decided. The military counsel that now forms the government alongside the queen decided that despite being faithful to Rod Reiss…"

"No, crap!" suddenly reacted the older raven. "I was never faithful to that bastard! I was loyal to Uri, and only to Uri. I guarded the royal family only because Uri ordered me to" he grunted. "Not even that brat Frieda managed to have my entire loyalty, even… even if I could see him in her eyes."

"Weirdest thing" he said, remembering Frieda as a little girl. She was always clinging to him when he took him to that farmhouse and sometimes bothered him while reading in the tree, but wasn´t a bad person. Otherwise, she didn´t look in the slightest like her uncle. She was more in her mother´s side of the family. "They should be here in short to announce you and your little friend your fates."

"The I guess I will get out of this things soon… get up, Tratute!" the woman opened her eyes and moved a bit, trying to get up. Unfortunately for her, she did have an arm broken and other injuries, so she felt down again. "Easy there"

"Captain, where…"

"In a hospital" answered Levi, who knew the girl from her time as a trainee. "You will stay here until you recovered entirely and are ready to continue working."

"Working?" the blond was a little bit confused. "Shouldn´t we be receiving a punishment for our actions?" she was cold when she said that, being also awfully realistic. She knew what the new government would think of her brigade´s action. "Or did your commander thought of it as a show of compassion?"

"He didn´t do anything, Zackley and the others thought you were too much valuable assets to lose" the sound of footsteps suddenly was heard in the hallway. Finally Nile Dokk, Erwin Smith and some MP entered the room. "Ahhhh, you are finally here" he said before the commander of the MP could do something. "Dokk, my pain in the ass of an uncle, Kenny Ackerman. Try not to kill him the first day he is in your charge" he turned back to his relative "Shitface, this is your new commander."

"What?" the assassin didn´t believe what his eyes were hearing. It was true that he belonged to the MP since Uri defeated him, but he never passed through the conventional system. And was used to do whatever he wanted, being his own boss… except for Uri.

"Oh, didn´t I tell you?" the brat was enjoying this a little bit too much. "As punishment for your actions and, taking into account that you were following orders from the king, you and your surviving subordinates are going to be transferred to the conventional Military Police and help with the purge" he crossed his arms. "There is a lot of corrupted officers to take to jail"

"Oi oi, I didn't sign to work with them" Kenny was furious. Then he remembered the last conversation he shared with Uri before he went to the chapel to die. The last order from his king, the dying wish of his love… damn that Ackerman loyalty, even from beyond the grave he was still following Uri´s command. "But I will do so" he sighed rolling a bit. "I won´t have to wear a uniform, no?"

"Of course you will, it´s protocol" Nokk intervened before putting a set of clothes next to the Ackerman´s bed, doing the same for Traute. "And as soon as you are healed I expected you two first hour in the morning to start working."

"Don´t order me, idiot"

"As I said, try not to kill him" Levi rolled his eyes, getting up to let Nile deal with his new subordinates. He was about to leave the room when he heard Kenny address him again, this time with no harsh words.

"He wasn´t a bad king"

"Who? Rod?" asked Erwin.

"Of course not! He was the worst! I´m talking about Uri!" hearing the name of his godfather again from the lips of a person that personally knew him made his body stiff. "Uri was amazing, what a true king should be, gentle and understanding. And he fought" there was some fire in his eyes. "He fought with nail and toe with that accursed will inside of him… because he knew that the time to fight has come."

"Kenny, what are you saying?"

"Perhaps I should just show you… if you were so kind to free me" he pulled at his chains again. Nokk doubted a bit, but finally freed him. if they were going to work together, perhaps he should start trusting in him. "Thank you, brat" he stirred, noticing the commander´s struggle not to hit him. "Come on, I don´t have all day"

"We neither and this best don´t be an attempt to escape" Traute watched everything from her bed, knowing that her boss wasn´t going to leave without her. The Ackerman, for his part, took his necklace before getting up and walking away. They follow him to a carriage and then to Reiss territory. Not the chapel or the mansions, but little farms that were property of the wealthy family. There Kenny opened some kind of underground lair and showed them inside. It was full of papers and other things.

"What…" Nile said when he picked up the first paper he found. Those were instructions about an air vehicle, signed by someone by the name Arlet. It was made of a big balloon and something attached to it. The best parts were that the previous owner confirmed that it worked.

"Incredible" Erwin was now seeing a sketch of a few modifications that could be made to the usual three dimensional manoeuvring gear, making it more efficient for the killing. There was also prototypes of new weaponry for them… this can´t be, it was signed by Sharle Munsel. The famous Queen of the Inventions. "Sharle Munsel? Did you know Sharle Munsel?"

"It was one of my cases in the MP" admitted Kenny. "She, her hubby and a friend of them had some very dangerous ideas. They could have been all condemned to death, but the hubby was a commander in the Legion… he died before Uri gave the order. Then the friend was eaten by a Titan… what were they doing in the Legion at their age? I don´t know" he scratched his nape. "The woman also died before the order was given."

"So you emptied her house" Levi grabbed another thing, it was a tiny book. It was full of points and other symbols, but nothing he could read. "And this?"

"It´s from the friend, I believe he was called… Karl? Something like that" Erwin felt a little bit shaken at the sound of that name. "He was in the Scouts too."

"Karl Baum, the commander of the Legion when I was a beginner" he remembered fondly. "He was old, but didn´t want to give up… Keith Shadis was the next after him. I guess this thing" he grabbed the book. "was stolen from him"

"Damn right" the assassin crossed his arms. "We didn´t kill him because there was no order and he couldn´t find anything in this, but… Uri ordered me to take every piece of useful information to somewhere."

"Somewhere?"

"Didn´t I tell you? He was fighting. Fighting with that damn First King that decided that peace can only be achieved in a cage… and it was a torture" he clenched his hands, remembering all those moments Uri seemed a complete different person and then broke down to cry and beg forgiveness. Then it came the order to take those things to a place where they could be protected instead of one where him or Rod could destroy them. "He seemed to be in pain, in so much pain… but he gave me one last order that defied everything the First King believed in. it was just before he went to that chapel to encounter Frieda and Rod to pass the Titan power to the next generation."

"What order?"

"Prepare for war" confirmed the Ripper. "I have been following that order ever since. First I thought it was the war with the Scouting Legion, but then… I was not so sure. I thought that maybe if I could see the same thing as he I would know how to make his dream become true… but I guess I was mistaken. Since the very beginning."

"The war with the Titans" Erwin understood. "We can ask the smiths for some of this special gears for our next incursion to Shiganshina, in case the Armoured Titan or Colossal Titan appeared again, along with some of Hanji´s inventions"

"Do whatever you want, I have the feeling that you are going to need it soon" he grabbed a box from the floor. "And this too" he put it over the table in the middle of the room. "Uri gave it to me a few months before he died" he opened the box to show some bottles like the ones Rod had in his bag. "For something"

"Something, eh?" Levi put a bottle in front of his face. From what he was told, his godfather has been preparing for war. A war against who? Not even he was completely sure. Against the Titan? No, he wasn´t sure either. Not for the first time, he wished that Uri-san talked to him about the Past of the World. Or at least to someone, even if that someone was Kenny. Or better yet… how he wished he was here.

-In the Legion headquarters-

"Even if I will live in the palace now, I will miss this place" Historia was picking up her things in her room for her moving to the castle. Her coronation will be soon enough and there was much to learn, but fortunately for her, she still had time to do some things on her own. Like picking her own things for the moving. "I used to share this room with Ymir, it´s so full of memories of her…"

"And the palace will be the new place to form pretty memories" a fully recovered Hanji smiled at her, a knowing look in her face. "Of the strong, wise little queen she would have loved."

"Yeah, I will be a queen you all are proud of, even her" she promised, grabbing the box her things were in. she got down the stairs, only to find Erwin and Levi were already back form their visit to the anti-personnel squad. "Commander, captain!" she cheerfully called them. "I wanted to thank you for all you did for me" she thanked. "I learned so much under your guidance…"

"And talking about learning, I surely learned a lot of things about you, Levi" Hanji suddenly blurted, unable to keep it quiet anymore. "And first, forgive me for doubting you… but you were always so secretive!" the captain raised an eyebrow, as if asking why she doubted him. "And who would have told!" she clapped and jumped. "Who would have known that you were Historia´s cousin!"

"…" suddenly silence was the only thing heard in all the room. You could hear a pin being dropped to the ground and many soldiers (some from the Legion and others from the MP that were escorting Historia) felt their mouths drop.

"Where did you get that crazy idea?" Levi tried to keep himself cool, but was starting to felt a little bit nervous. Apparently some explanations were in order. Hanji´s smile widened and she pulled the cord and ring out of her pocket. "You went through my things?!"

"Hey, calm down, I was just looking for a pen" she let him snatch the ring with the Reiss crest from her hand. He was so angry he considered grabbing his gear to chase her around the room. "But answer, answer" she started jumping again. "What was the son of a king doing in the underground? Isabel and Farlan knew who you were? How did you learn to use the gear? Why didn´t you just send Erwin to the jails when he forced you into the military? What were you doing sleeping here when you had a money and a manor in Mytras?"

"I don´t have to answer anything" he crossed his arms.

"I will tell you why!" Kenny suddenly appeared behind him, a smirk on his face. Levi suddenly went stiff, as his uncle cackled. "The brat here ran away because Uri got into his head to engage him to Rod oldest brat!"

"Prince Ulkyn?" Hanji asking, remembering the papers and the confession of Lobov she got at the jail.

"Yes, that one! He screamed to high heaven and threw a tantrum to convince Uri, but he was adamant. So, like the spoiled brat he is, threw an even bigger tantrum and ran away from home, directly to the underground" Kenny laughed even harder. "Lucky that I taught him my tricks, because he couldn´t have survived without them!" he nearly felt. "And then… he didn't call the MP on Erwin because Frieda WOULD have made him fulfil the engagement and he didn´t want that."

"Hump" Levi just turned his head, saying over and over again in his mind that he shouldn´t fell into Kenny´s stupid games. "Better dead than with ROD JUNIOR"

"That too" Kenny continued laughing at his expense, calling him a spoiled brat and reviving all those years he still had to avenge. "Oh, for fuck´s sake, I still remember that time that he took Frieda to see the little blond brat and took a… he just couldn´t resist tea! JAJAJAJA!"

"Eh? You came to visit me along with onee-san?" the queen was surprised, as she never saw him before she joined the Scouts. And she would have remembered it after the incident in the cave with Eren.

"Who do you think took Frieda in his horse all the way to your farm?"

"Oh"

"And by your information, you never saw each other" interrupted Kenny that moment. "Frieda took the horse ride to see you, HE did it just to stop by a close market and spent a year´s worth of a Shiganshina family´s income in tea leaves" Levi glared at him. "And sometimes it was worse"

"Shut up, Kenny"

"Should I do it just because my dear cute nephew asked me?" the older make teased him, enjoying his reaction.

"No, because the strongest soldier of humanity is about to kick you where the sun doesn´t shine" everybody sweat dropped. It was obvious that a good fight was routine between the Ackermans, so no one dare to get into that conversation… well, no one sane enough to notice that they were dangerous. And a certain Titan obsessed woman was not between those described by this.

"But even so!" Hanji surprised them all. "What were you doing sleeping here after the danger was over when you have a manor in Mytras, Levi? And money enough to buy yourself the entire Trost city?"

"I don´t have that amount of money" said the younger Ackerman confused.

"According to this, you have" Hanji waved some papers she took out of her pockets. She passed it to her friend, who took it and read carefully. "The first one is an official adoption signed by Uri Reiss, King in the Walls, and the second is his Will. Apparently you inherited his manor and all of his personal money and belongings."

"Really?" he finished reading the papers. It surprised him, as he never knew Uri-san worried so much about him. Giving him a fortune to inherit, adopting him legally, taking him out of Kenny´s untrustworthy hands, marrying him to a prince that will secure him for live… he was surely worried about his future. "Okay, shitty glasses, in the first place, I wasn´t aware of this. And I wasn´t there when Uri´s Will was read, so I didn´t get the memo."

"Awww, come on, I want to hear more" Zoe tried to coax him to talk, along with Historia, who wanted to know more about her other siblings. "How the nephew of a serial killer gets adopted by a king?"

"Well… long history short, when this idiot became his bodyguard he went to visit his sister, who recently died. She left behind a little kid who he planned to abandon once he taught him a few things… until Uri came to scene. He took me out of his incapable hands" a glare towards his uncle. "And taught me many things that helped me to convince the nobles to keep this corps alive."

"Hummm, and here I thought that Erwin suddenly became a diplomatic genius" the girl commented. "Well, I guess I should thank you for all your hard work in the diplomatic side against your family…"

"My family? My family was Uri-san and that loser over there, maybe Frieda too" he added the girl in the last moment, as she was more like an occasional nuisance than a close relative. But then again, which cousin wasn´t? "Rod, Rainy and Ulkyn were never my family and I barely saw the younger children. Besides, they tried to kill me every chance they had, especially in the expeditions."

"Truly?"

"Truly! And they never give up, even with Ulkyn´s death" she shook his head, remembering Rod. The man was such a rat… he was sure that when Grisha attacked his family he left them behind like the cowards he was to save himself. Historia otherwise was intrigued. Finally she found someone that could tell her how her siblings were. Perhaps she should invite her new cousin over some day or…

"Look, this is an enjoyable chit chat, but we have to go, the queen too" Erwin interrupted them, noticing the hour. They had a reunion with Zackley, Pixis and Dokk in half an hour, it wasn´t recommended to be late...

"Good, I can take you on my carriage" the little blond offered, happily. Once inside the carriage, the four persons inside were a little awkward. Levi could practically feel the little queen´s gaze on him, practically with stars on her eyes. It was obvious what she wanted. As a girl, she never had much family, her parents and grandparents wishing that she doesn´t exist, but now she was seeing a person that could possibly accept her as part of the family, someone that already encouraged her to become what she was meant to be… and even more! Besides, she had questions in her head he could answer. "Tell me about my siblings."

"Well…" he tried to remember something nice to say, but when it came to his ex-fiancé, nothing occurred him. "Ulkyn was… a pest. He was narcissistic, petulant, a spoiled son of mommy and thought everybody was beneath his feet. We never agreed on something… except on the engagement deal" he shook his head. "That was Uri-san´s worst idea"

"You make it sound as if you were going to kill each other in the ceremony" Hanji joked.

"Most likely I was going to strangle him on the way to the church" he grunted, seriously. "Then there was Frieda… she was a nice little brat. Understanding, joyful… a little bit of a nuisance sometimes, especially when she wanted me to take her somewhere, but I liked her" he raised another finger. "Then there was Dirk, I think. And Florian… and Abel" the captain raised his last finger. "I don´t know much about them, they were toddlers when I escaped, Abel a baby…"

"Then you don´t know much about them" she smiled sadly. "And my father? And his wife? Was there a time when he was more… I mean… ehhhhh"

"If you´re asking if there was a time where he was a better person, it wasn´t, or at least I don´t know about it" Levi answered frankly. "Rod was a coward through and through, also a backstabber" he noticed her face and stopped himself. "But Uri assured me there was a time he was better, just that… it was a long time ago" he remembered the other question. "Rainy… she was a spoiled lady of nobility with a stick up her ass. I still remember how she spoiled her little brats since the crib and tell them to stay away from me and trying to convince Uri to kick me out… the bitch…"

"Wooho" Hanji suddenly interrupted him again. "What a nice little mouth, Levi. Do you learn to talk that way form your tutors in your big ass manor?"

"Continue talking, shitty glasses, and I will show you exactly how much I learned in the underground city" she lifted her hands in surrender. Finally they arrived to the palace in time for the reunion. The Queen attended with them, as she wanted to present a motion to turn the old farm she grew up in to an orphanage. It was a good idea, so Levi supported her. Eren, who was present because they also discussed the hardening testing he was going to make soon, just smiled. She was so brave.

"Well, if it´s all, then I will…"

"Wait there!" Historia froze in mid-air. Everybody in the room looked surprised at the captain. "You can´t just get up like that, a queen has to wait until someone retired the chair for her and graceful gets up, not like an old lady" the blond felt like punching him again. He didn´t care, one of his lessons of hell with Uri-san was about keeping the name of the family high. And if by the end of the day he was going to be known as the queen´s cousin, thanks to the gossiping soldiers that surely heard the chit chat in the Legion headquarters, he would at least keep his dignity. "It´s like this" he got up without a sound. "how it´s done"

"And why should I care?" the young Reiss answered him, a little bit enraged. She has been done things like getting up all her life and wasn´t keen on someone criticising her. Meanwhile, the other commanders were reacting and Erwin explained them the situation while Hanji laughed like mad. "It´s not like the nobility is here any longer… or what´s left of it."

"Pardon me, your majesty, but his highness is right" Zackley finally found his voice. It was weird, calling a subordinate like that, but, as they were talking about propriety, it was proper to call Levi by his title… at least when not in private. The queen looked at him, unable to understand. "Even if the nobility is injured, we still need them. We will even help some loyal houses to grow wealthier to assure their help, but I would be better if they could see their queen acting like one of them… or at least a queen."

"Are you saying that I´m not queenly enough?" she raised an eyebrow at them. This was getting too far, they were mocking her and calling her inadequate. That she won´t permit.

"Don´t get me wrong, your majesty, but you are a soldier. And soldiers are not known for their grace and poise. A Queen must be a lady, and a lady is the opposite of a soldier" she bit her tongue, remembering how her sister Frieda carried herself. She was the perfect example of a lady, educated and graceful. She, on the other side… well, she never fulfilled her sister´s wish of her becoming a lady.

"I get your point" the blond finally calmed down, sitting down again. She was obviously trying to imitate Levi´s way of sitting, completely failing. "The truth is that the only lady arts I ever learned were from my sister and limited to embroidery, reading, writing and horse ridding. Do you have some teachers in mind that can teach me the arts I lack in?"

"Why to hire a teacher when we have someone of absolute trust to teach you?" all the eyes focused on Levi. The Ackerman looked at his fellow scouts for help, but Erwin agreed with the other commanders and Hanji wanted revenge for him keeping his secret. Promising to take revenge someday, he turned to his cousin.

"Is there a room where he can begin the class?" he asked, remembering that throwing a temper tantrum in front of them was not proper. She nodded and took him to an unused ball room. "Okay, first lesson, how to walk"

"I already know how to walk"

"But not to walk like one of the nobility" Levi exited the room for some minutes, returning with a heavy book. He put it over his head, walking and demonstrating how easily he can walk while keeping his back straight. "Okay, now you" he walked to her, who was wondering how she was going to do that in her high heels. "Poise, Historia" he chastised, not satisfied with the way she stood. "Try like this, back straight, shoulders here, head held high" he finally put the book over her head. "Now walk while keeping that position."

"I feel like a bird" she walked uncomfortable, feeling her knees trembling. But if her Frieda-nee could do it, she could too. After all she promised to become a queen his big sister could be proud of. Even if… "This is ridiculous"

"Yes, I used to say that too when I was younger. And you know what Uri-san used to say to me?"

"What?"

"Keep your back straight!" he grabbed a mantel from a table and slapped her in the back. "Knees together, your ankles are wrong too!" now she believed Eren about Levi being a tyrant. "Try to appear secure, girl! Do it again!" he was unsatisfied with how she did it again. "Head high dammit!"

"Woow, from this side of the door it sounds exactly like Uri torturing Levi into learning manners" the commanders all jumped when Kenny suddenly appeared behind of them. "Yep, that absolutely hears like the king´s way to teaching."

"Well, what a way of teaching" commented Erwin, wincing when he heard another slap. Even if she was slapped by a cotton cloth, the queen was going to be sore later. "Couldn´t he just be more understanding? She is just a girl."

"And Levi needed years of learning before mastering the arts to survive in the nobility" the Ackerman commented, telling it as if it was nothing. "She is a little bit too old, that´s why he is using Uri´s method to force her to learn quickly. Don't worry, he won´t kill her."

"I hope so" Eren winced too, praying that when he exited the room, the captain was not frustrated enough to order the whole squad to do clean duty. It would mean another sleepless night, trying with all his force to make everything look like a mirror surface. "Me and the others need our sleep."

"That bad, eh?" the Ripper smiled fondly. "He picked that cleaning mania from Uri too. Even if he was the king, he never was happy with the state of the house. He always ordered the servants to do the cleaning over and over again, sometimes he would do it with them himself or even catch me to help… good times those."

"Yeah…" the shifter smiled awkwardly. "I just want to avoid being the one to clean his manor. THAT will surely be a nightmare."

"Then you better run, this is not going to end up pretty" the young soldier was nervous, but didn´t left his post. After a few hours, Levi exited the room with a zombie like Historia, who ordered a female servant to take her to her room. The woman was about to fulfil her order when the small raven lifted a hand.

"Wait!" he went to the library and came back with a pile of books bigger than himself. "In your free time I want you to read all this books" he dumped them in front of the frightened little queen. "It´s the beginner's guide to everything a queen should know, from politics to etiquette manuals and history books"

"Do… do I really have to read them all?"

"Of course, so you could form an opinion about every theme usually brought out in a nobility party" the captain answered, waving a hand. "At least one of them have to be read by tomorrow. Choose the title yourself."

"God" Historia looked ready to pass out from exhaustion. Eren, for his part, pitied his friend, but didn´t want to be the butt of Levi´s anger by criticising his teaching methods. They were getting to the door of the palace when a pair of MP soldiers interrupted their way. they had a paper on their hands.

"Eren Jeager?" asked a short man with a hand that appeared in that moment. the teen nodded. It was strange that someone asked for his name, everybody inside the walls should know by now what the titan boy looked like. "Please come with us"

"Why?" Levi got in the middle, suspecting immediately. The paper was unusual, high quality… apparently a noble wanted to get in touch with his young charge. What could be his plan? His motives?

"Nothing, your highness" the man answered with respect. "Lord Innocencio is just inviting young Eren to his manor to discuss something that could be beneficial for both him and the Exploring corps… well, the entire military regimen, to be true" he extended the paper. "Here is the invitation."

"Hummmm?" the shifter looked around not knowing what to do. Levi frowned. Lord Innocencio? He remembered the old man from a party, surrounded by the nephews and nieces of his former wives, all of them waiting for him to die to sink their teeth in his fortune. He should be really ancient by now. "Captain…"

"Go… but keep your eyes open" he finally ordered. Innocencio didn´t oppose them in their uprising against the crown, so probably he was going to make an offer to turn the tides even more in his favour. But why Eren? Something strange was happening here.

"Ye… yeah" answered the youngster before getting on the carriage. While they were moving, he started to think about what was happening here. Why did a lord suddenly called for him? What did he want? Could it be… his titan? Like the Reiss family?

"Don´t worry, kid, he doesn´t want to harm you" assured the man, smiling at him. "After all…" his eyes opened in a creepy way. "He has been waiting a long time to know you"

-In a manor-

"Archie must be returning with him, milord" the butler said to his master, that laid on his bed. The old man looked like a mummy, but still had the traces of a once muscular body. The butler approached him more with a tray of medicines. "Are you sure of your decision? Won´t any of your nephews be a better choice?"

"Do they pay you to sell themselves to me?" the lord talked before coughing. "That brat is a better choice than any of those damn fortune hunters. Besides…" he looked at a portrait of a very beautiful woman in the wall. "I have a promise to fulfil" he extended a hand towards the portrait. "Isn´t that right… little sister?"

"It´s a shame that she never married, no?"

"Never married? Oh, she did, but… it didn´t matter, she won in the end" he laughed hard. "I accused her of neglecting her duty as a daughter of my house, but she was the only one to give my bloodline new life" he coughed again. "I don´t have much time… go to receive them."

"Yes, milord"

And here are new characters! Do you already know who they are? Review!


	6. Chapter 6

"Hello… ehhhh, Lord Innocencio?" Eren entered the room, unsure of how to addressed the bedridden old lord. He smiled with a humorous expression. The youngster looked around the room, noticing the portrait in the other side of the wall. It was a beautiful woman with long light brunette hair that for some reason reminder him a little bit of his mother. The only difference was that she looked so sad that it brought tears to his eyes.

"Beautiful, isn´t she?" the man commented. "You know, she is part of the reason I wanted to contact you… and your mother" he coughed a bit. "Her name was Sharle Innocencio, my little sister, but people remembered her more like Sharle Munsel."

"The Queen of Inventions!" the shifter was surprised. During his time in the military training, there have been some talking about her. She wasn´t a soldier, but she became as important as an entire regiment in the fight against the Titans. There was no smith after her that could match her mastery to create anti Titan weaponry.

"That they call her" the lord conceded. "Back in our time, I tried to make her do her role, as I called it. She was supposed to be a bride for the good of the family, marrying a noble and assuring our ascension further in nobility ranks. She was never rebel in her youth… until she met him. her future husband, a lowly slave of our house that later would become commander of the Scouting Legion. His name was Kiklyo Munsel."

"Kiklyo Munsel…" he heard that name before. Until commander Smith, he was the best commander the Scouting Legion could had. And lasted more than any other commander. "Sharle… made the gear for him?"

"Oh, you got it so quickly?" the man laughed. "Sharle and Kiklyo escaped this manor together after a group of terrorists attacked it. You probably heard of them too, the Titan Cult" he grunted. "First I blamed the attack on him, but then I realized that he couldn´t have contacted them, he was always in a cell" he shook a bit. "He then went to his first expedition and became a little bit too fixated in killing all the Titans… much like you."

"Much like me…"

"Well, I guess it´s understandable, you share more than a career" he coughed again. "Sharle wasn´t selfless either. She became pretty much enamoured with our little slave after spending some time with him. And decided to become the best smith and engineer possible to keep him alive and give him the meanings to fight. Her, Cardin and Kiklyo… all the three of them made an amazing team that kept the Legion alive even with all my efforts and the MP´s to close it." He looked at him. "Do you know why I´m telling you this?"

"No" Eren answered with sincerity. Of course he was happy to hear about legendary persons and eager to know more of them, specially Kyklio, but didn´t know why the man decided to share his memories with him.

"Because… you are their grandson" he answered. The shifter´s eyes became big like saucers. "I bet Carla never told you" he laughed. "Well, I couldn´t blame her. You already were showing so much similitudes to Kiklyo apart from the desire to join the Scouts… perhaps she was afraid that you would end up like her father, returning home half death, with a leg and an arm ripped off by a Titan."

"I… I think I can understand her now" more like he came to pity her a bit. She already lost so much to the Titans… she didn´t deserve a suicidal son like him.

"I remember her as a child… once…" the old lord said. "She was a cute girl, but I can´t tell much about how she was at that age. I was never the favourite uncle" he smiled in amusement. "In fact, I don´t even know if I can call myself her uncle. I disregarded her immediately, just because I thought she didn´t have the adequate blood. I even disinherit Sharle for having her and marrying a commoner."

"Then, why are you contacting me now?"

"Because, unlike her, I failed" he answered. "Or at least that´s what my old self four years ago would tell you, when his last wife, a noble born girl much younger than him, died and he lost any hope."

"I don´t understand, lord Innocencio" he really tried to get the man´s motives for contacting him. this man, that practically expelled his sister from his live for marrying bellow her state, for birthing a lovely daughter that to him was not of the adequate bloodline… was he contacting him just because he was his last living relative? Did he want to receive some kind of pardon in his last days from a descendant of his sister?

"You don´t need to… and call me just uncle Javi" he asked him. He never would have given the same privilege to his mother, unless… unless she survived until now. He remembered how he called Carla to his mother´s face, the expression of utter deception and sadness in Sharle´s face when she heard him saying those words.

"Well… uncle Javi" it was strange, calling a man he never knew before his uncle. "I want you to tell me, why did you decide to contact me after all this time?"

"If you really want to understand… let´s just say that at first it was a situation where I lost hope of ever having descendants" he sighed, remembering it. "I married a lot of times and all my wives either died of childbirth or of a sickness… all the children were stillborn. When my last wife died five years ago, a woman much younger than me, I lost hope completely. So I remembered that only visit I made to my sister and her husband in Shiganshina."

"You told me you met my mother there" the shifter understood. Javi had no noble descendants, but he had a niece that would be his natural heir. "If you want me to renounce whatever claim I have to your fortune…"

"No, God, no! I want you to take it!" Javi screamed, trying to lift himself. "The nephews and nieces of my wives are waiting for my death like starving wolves, waiting to sink their teeth in the fortune my father and I worked so hard to built… I won´t let those fortune hunters have it."

"Won´t they try something?"

"Do you lack that much confidence that you doubt your capacity to deal with some spoiled brats? Your Titan powers on their own should be enough to scare them out of their wits. Besides, none of them was useful enough to get military training." Javi smiled wickedly. "They also don´t know about you. They found out about your mother when I started searching for her, but by then she was already dead and they never felt the need to keep digging. I, on the other side… learned about you and your sister… your adoptive sister."

"Really?" he was surely very interested in finding his late sister´s descendants.

"It was a joy to find you… even if I had to concede Sharle a victory" he remembered the moment found himself admitting that his wayward sibling won, as she brought a new generation of their bloodline to live while he remained childless. "Do you want to hear the entire history?"

-Flashback-

"I was not expecting you to show here after all this years, brother" Sharle said, not lifting her eyes from the piece of metal she was working on. Javi stared at her with cold eyes. His darling sister that escaped from her duties a noble born girl, as the daughter of the Innocencio family, was finally within his grasps. "Are you going to stay there or come to hug me."

"You are a hard to find woman, Sharle"

"I didn´t mean to be" she continued with her works. "And if you just ask around, you will see that a lot of people could signal you my house. There was no need to go through different paths to find me" she answered, returning to her work.

"Until when are you going to keep up with this little game, dear sister?" he asked, getting closer. "You are already old by marriage standards. If I don´t find you don´t leave those silly plays with metals and…"

"Mommy?" a girl with long dark locks appeared in the door, holding a doll in her hands. She looked a bit afraid at the man in MP uniform that was talking to her mother. Her dress was something that would never be seen near a dance room from a manor and her shoes fit only for a peasant. "Who is he, mommy? Why is he here? Is something happening?"

"Nothing, sweetie, he is just visiting" Sharle opened her arms to receive the girl into her arms. Javi just stared at her and her daughter, disgusted by her utter disregard to the nobility rules. "This is mommy´s brother, Javi. Say hi to uncle Javi."

"Hi…"

"That won´t be necessary" he stopped the girl before she could say anything. "I can´t believe you could do something like this… you are a disgrace. You and your peasant daughter" the girl hid her face in her mother´s work apron. "And even more… Is she the daughter of who I´m thinking of?"

"If you are talking about Kiklyo, yes, she is. We married" she showed her worn wedding ring. Javi couldn´t take it any longer. He started walking towards the exit. "Javi, wait. Even if you don´t like my choices in life, I want to tell you that I made them for love. and I don´t regret this, my daughter is the best thing that happened to me along with Kiklyo, but… I would like to have you in my life someway. You are my brother…"

"No" he coldly said. "A sister of mine wouldn´t have made such a mistake just with the excuse that she did it for love" he turned around. "Forget about me and that one day we shared the house, we are not siblings anymore. You are not an Innocencio" Sharla seemed sad at his reaction, her daughter was still holding to her for dear life. "And I will tell you that I´m going to get married soon, to a highborn lady. My children will inherit everything, so don´t you dare to appear to claim something of our inheritance."

"I see" the woman didn´t seem affected apart from the sadness that filled her. "Well, I hope you have a happy life then, brother. And that your wife gives you many many children to give a new life to house Innocencio."

"Goodbye, Sharle, forever" he walked away without looking at her. In the door he found a one eyed person with the uniform of the Exploration Corps. He, crossed armed, waited until he was completely out to stand in front of him, daringly.

"I sincerely hope for your sake, Javi, that you didn´t upset Sharle or Carla, because if you did, god help me because…"

"Ho, someone grew a pair since he married my sister… or is it since he joined the Legion" teased the lord, subtly taking note that his niece´s name was Carla. Carla Munsel. "What? Have you forgotten all the beating I gave you, Munsel?"

"Let´s just say that now that I faced real monsters, the brat Javi Innocencio from my memories looks less menacing" he glared at the man. "And if you are talking about that, wasn´t I a slave, always kept in a cage, for all my life? Was I really given the option to fight back? Even when you took this eye from me" he touched his face. "when I was protecting Sharle… you beat me once, Innocencio, that´s your only victory against me."

"Hump, I don´t have time to talk to peasant" he walked away, only to find Kiklyo´s little friend Cardin blocking the way out. "Let me go"

"Force me"

"Let him go, Cardin, he isn´t worth your time" the short blond man stepped away from his path. "Goodbye, Javi. Give us a favour and don´t come back unless you can be the brother Sharle deserves. I personally don´t want to see you again, but I could stand you if seeing you makes Sharle happy."

"Hump, don´t count on it" many years passed until he saw any of them again. And it wasn´t the usual trio the ones he saw, only Cardin. He was still dressed in his Scout uniform that time, despite Javi knew that he was getting too old for even staying at the military. The news he carried weren´t too happy either.

"Kiklyo died" he said dryly, obviously still grieving his old friend´s death. Javi just stayed in silence. He repeated in his mind that what happens to Sharle now that her husband was dead as not of his concern anymore, managing to remain cold.

"And I should care because…"

"Old dear Javi, the same old bastard as ever" his former training companion said with a voice full of venom. Then he sighed, tired. "Unfortunately, you are the only one I can trust with something as delicate as this." He put some papers in his desk. "It concerns my noble heritance and the people that usurped my family. I spent too much time searching for proofs, to put at least the power of one noble house with the Scouting Legion… that doesn´t matter much, I won´t probably live for long."

"Live for long? Not if you are still in the Scouting Legion" he grabbed the papers. Cardin did a good job, he had to say. There were enough proofs to sink the noble family that usurped him and condemned him to death before Kiklyo managed to save him. It didn´t concern him, but… it could be useful, so he was going to keep it.

"It doesn´t matter… as long as I reached my goal" he said, twisting his hands. "After Kiklyo was injured we came across someone who give us some information about the Titans that no one else knows" he smiled. "And if I can verify it, then… everything is going to change" he got up. "Anyway, I´m going now. Get in touch with Sharle, she will need you now more than ever."

"Like hell"

"As you say" he exited the room and he never saw him again. Like two years later, the news of his death reached him. Even later, Sharle followed him, but he didn´t grieve for his younger sister… at least not outwardly. He stayed in his house, tended to his business, found new wives and burry the old ones, childless and getting older. Once he had the hope that one of his sons would live, the boy taking his first breaths of live, only to find him dead the next morning. When his ninth wife finally died and a year later he was bedridden, he remembered his niece again. She was his only relative left… he stared at a portrait he was unable to take off the wall, a portrait of Sharle.

"Don´t look at me like that" he instructed the girl, who still looked at him with those sad eyes he has only seen in his presence and that of the nobles. He hated to admit it, but the real Sharle glowered in happiness when she was close to Kiklyo, perhaps because that was the place she truly belonged. "Don´t you dare to look at me like that" he clenched his teeth. It was as if the woman was pitying him. perhaps he deserved her pity, as he never got what she did. "Okay… okay! I get it!" he finally sat down in his bed glaring at her. "You win… I concede you this one… You win, Sharle, you win! That´s what you wanted to heard?!" he coughed, feeling his throat dry. "Hetlch!"

"What, my lord?"

"Fetch me Noel Fuchs, the one that´s rumoured to be capable to find any person between this walls" the butler was confused, as the lord grabbed something from his bedside. "I have a mission for him."

"Right… right away, milord" the man walked away. He returned a few hours later with a man with strange look, much like the private detective he once hired to find his sister when she first ran away with Kiklyo. The man looked at him with a fake smile.

"I guess you know why I called you here" the old man pushed a paper towards his new employee. "Her name is Carla Munsel, she is the daughter of my little sister Sharle. I need you to bring her here, to me" the other just nodded, looking at the drawing in the paper. "Is something the matter?"

"Is this how she looked like recently?"

"This is how I remember her, from a few years ago, when I visited my sister and her lowborn husband in Shiganshina" the other whistled. Javi immediately understood why. "I´m only asking for a few clues on her, if she is still alive. If not, then just give the news and whatever information you have."

"As the lord orders" the detective answered. Day after day passed without any news on the case, until a year was to come. Finally, the detective reunite with him, a few papers on his hands. "I have bad news for you, milord. Your niece is dead, she was one of the victims from the attack a year ago in Shiganshina district. According to some witnesses, she was nearly crushed by her house, an easy prey that a titan grabbed and ate. A smiling titan, according to some people." He sighed, as if he too was in pain because of his niece´s death. "It was hard to get any clues because there are no official records on the mortal victims of that event, only the ciphers."

"I understand" Javi felt regret in his hearth, reached to his gold purse to pay for the service, but the hand of the man stopped him, putting a finger on his mouth. He quickly went to check the door. "What are you doing?"

"I have more information, but it´s sensible and surely shouldn´t reach the ears of your other relatives" he smiled wickedly. "You surely weren´t oblivious to them putting spies in your residence, no?"

"Of course not, but I believed this room secure" the Innocencio returned the gesture. "What else do you have?"

"Okay, what I said before is true, but according to some neighbours of hers, your niece was also married" he pulled a piece of paper. "Now, apparently she was seen in the market more than a few times by some women I interview accompanied by a boy and a girl, both very young. I went back to the neighbours and they told me they were his son and his daughter" he pulled out a coin. "The I moved to the Garrison soldiers that were in Shiganshina that day and one confirmed that another soldier passed the same two children to a boat before the titans arrived to the evacuation sites"

"You mean that…" Javi felt hope returning to him. Children… children were too young to be sent out of Wall Rose and were spared the disastrous attempt at reconquering Wall Maria. If they were in the boats that day, it meant they have to be somewhere in that place.

"You still have family, milord, a great nephew and niece. The true question is… do you want me to find them for you?"

"Yes" with that they sealed the pact.

-End of the Flashback-

"It took him much longer to find you and your sister… Mikasa, what a nice name. A shame she was adoptive, I would like to still have a blood related niece, but… I suppose she is family too, so I don´t have to complain" he breathed in hardly. "Look behind your grandmother´s portrait"

"O… okay" Eren was still feeling uneasy around the man. He put aside the portrait and, under Javi´s directions, he opened the vault that was inside. There laid some pieces of paper. The Jaeger read one and noticed what it said. "Mi… uncle Javi, this is your will."

"Yes… and a little surprise for your friend Armin" he nodded. "And before you ask, yes, I know about him" a smirk of amusement appeared in his face. "It´s strange how the different paths of people can cross, over and over again. And families too" Eren passed the papers and soon found what he was talking about… oh… this was a surely going to be a surprise for Armin. He only hoped that it didn´t give him a hearth attack. "Surely you will be enjoying the situation."

"I… I don´t know if I can… be a noble."

"Oh, is simple, you only have to give it a little effort" the other answered, mockingly. "From what I heard, the queen also is form a lowborn mother and was raised by her family, but is doing everything in her power to correct that."

"I still…"

"Don´t worry, you are going to do it alright" Javi reassured him again, but he wasn´t so sure. Even so, the soldier was finally allowed to leave after seeing the papers. He walked out of the house and straight back to the carriage. He was left in the Scouts headquarters, still shocked by the news. He was such a state that he even ignored his friends in favour or the commander´s office. He opened it without knocking.

"Commander" he entered, surprising Erwin, Levi and Hanji, who were trying to make some plans for the battle in Shiganshina´s district. "Please tell me this isn´t true"

-The next day-

"Well, my dear titan, everything seems to be legally in order and absolutely true" Zackley took his eyes out of the document that Erwin brought with him that morning along with a shifter, two Ackermans and one confused soldier. "Son congratulations, you are officially the heir one of the currently most important noble houses… along with your little friend."

"Okay… sure… I need to sit down" Eren felt on his chair, hyperventilating. He never even dreamed of becoming a noble, let alone head of a house. He was a boy from Shiganshina district, for god´s sake! He wasn´t a noble! Oh, dear, how come this to happen? Was his mother aware that she was the daughter of a former lady?

"Unbelievable" Dokk felt on his chair again. It was so difficult to believe. "First, he is a Titan, now he is a noble. What is he going to be the next month? A merman?"

"But this surely works in our favour" the commander in chief didn´t batter an eyelash. "The family that usurped the Baumeisters is already in jail, being all of it´s members loyal to Rod Reiss, the Shadow King. Another audience before the queen with all this evidence is going to be all we need to return all the properties of Armin´s family to it´s legit owner. And voila, we have two important noble houses by the side of the new government. This can only favour us."

"But… But…" Eren tried to talk against that idea, not finding the words. "I don´t know how to behave like a noble, I don´t even know what a noble does. I don´t think it is possible for me to became some sort of lord…"

"He is right" Pixis suddenly said. "Like we discussed the last meeting, to survive in high society you don´t only need to be a good soldier, but to have some manners, poise and knowledge. It would be impossible for them to do their part correctly without those."

"Yes, that is…"

"Fortunately, we have a way" all the eyes in the room turned to the only captain, who was staring at them in disinterest. He had a bad feeling since Eren barged into his room with those papers in his hands. "Captain Levi, could you…"

"Are you asking me to turn an Ackerman, a shifter brat and totally ungraceful blondie into perfecto lording and lady" the raven stared back at them. "It´s never going to happen. Besides, I have my hands full with Historia. I´m teaching her the protocol of the court for her coronation, where she is going to have her debut in front of the people. She needs to be perfect for that day."

"You can surely accommodate three more in your classes with the queen" Zackley spoke. "And you are saying Ackerman like you weren´t one."

"No, I´m saying it that way because it took a titan shifter to make me learn the court protocol" they all agreed, especially after hearing what he did to poor Historia the previous day. the Queen still had the bumps and rings under her eyes as testimony of her sufferings. "There is no way I can teach them all."

"Surely you can… please, Levi" Erwin finally said in a tone of authority. The captain stared at him for a moment and then sighed, taking it as an order. Fucking loyalty of his fucking clan… when he goes up there he is going to kick someone´s fucking balls! "Excellent. So we better make Armin and Mikasa enter"

"Yes, sir" a young soldier opened the door for the two youngsters, who weren´t very sure about what they were doing there. After hearing the tale, they were shocked. The blond even started babbling about his grandfather not being named Cardin, but Carl… at least the one from his mother´s side, who was the one mentioned in the papers. Then the commander explained him that Carl was an alias he used after he was sentenced to death.

"I can´t believe it…" Armin had the same reaction as Eren, almost fainting on the floor. Mikasa, for her part, didn´t show her reaction. Inwardly, she was thinking about this Javi Innocencio and if he posed a threat to his beloved younger brother and friend. After all, Eren and Armin were still her babies.

"If this is good for Eren, then I accept" the female Ackerman looked at her fellow clansmen, who rolled his eyes. Just as he thought, that fucking loyalty was going to cause so much trouble for him before the month was out. Soon both of her friends were coaxed to agree. A few minutes after they followed the captain to the room of doom, as Eren called it. Historia was waiting for them there. She was surprised when they entered there.

"Hello! I wasn´t waiting for anyone" she greeted her friends warmly. "Are you here to tell me something?"

"No, more like to… take the course with you" he shivered when he said that. He already had nightmares involving the captain and his cleaning mania, he surely didn´t want to have new ones involving the man and whatever torture he was planning for them. "Ehhhh… Armin and I just found out that we were nobility, Mikasa is included in my family, so she too and… we are here to learn how to behave in nobility."

"Ohhhh… ehhh… I´m sorry" she said, feeling pity for her training companions. She just wished that now that they were more the captain was a little bit more lenient with them… or at least to miss some of their fails.

"Okay, we will start with walking again" the older male called them. Historia immediately got into position… or at least she thought that was the position. She was immediately the target of a bump in the back. "Straight back! Shoulders back too!"

"Yes, captain!"

"You are doing it wrong! Keep your head high!"

"I´m trying!"

¡BANG! Mikasa felt face first into the floor. Apparently walking like the captain said they should to wasn´t the same as having grace like a noblewoman. Levi felt the need to hit all four of them.

"AGAIN!"

-A few hours later-

"I thought… I… sorry"

"No need to apologize. After all, you didn´t know this was the place where I drink my tea" answered Levi, calming himself over a warm cup of tea. Eren took a seat himself, trying to do all the movements that he was just taught. He did it fairly well, but he was not as gracious as the captain. "Look, I know this has to be hard for you"

"You do?"

"No fucking shit, of course I do!" the Ackerman grabbed his cup, taking a zip before he continued. "You have those hardening experiments Hanji is pestering you about, the plans for the retaking of Wall Maria and on top of all that, you have to stay here with me and your friends to learn about the proper noble way so you could survive with your new positions. That would be hard for anyone."

"Oh… well… I…" the shifter didn´t know how to answer. His commanding officer just shook his head. Mikasa was probably still inside trying to get embroidery right. She complained once that stitches were to repair something, not to décor a clothe. Historia was better at it, having learned from a master herself. "It´s just that I don´t get it. Why to make things so difficult?"

"Because they are difficult, more than you can understand" he sighed, before sitting straight. "Nobles play a very dangerous game of power that rules this world. And, like Cardin Baumeister before you found out, in this game you take risks and you live or you die. If you lose there is no other movement you can do, because you will be ended. That´s why you need to train to become one of them. To play the game better than any of them and help us conduce this world in the right direction."

"Captain…" he was so serious about this… did he played this mysterious game before. "Have you ever played that game?" a nod was all the answer he had. "Then… you won?"

"I can´t say that I won, just that I survived and Ulkyn did not" the disgust in his voice by saying the name of his former fiancé didn´t surprise Eren, as he already stated that he hated the prince. "We were playing when your father barge in the game of power with all his might and crushed him"

"What…?"

"My life, obviously. That´s the only thing you can bet in this game" too serious, the shifter thought. He was getting scared. "I betted my life to support the scouting Legion, my ability was the only thing I had to stay alive" he smiled. "I proved to be better than him in this damn game even before Grisha appeared to finish the work."

"It had to be a though work" the younger male said, complete admiration in his eyes. "Putting the effort of keeping the Scouting Legion alive on your shoulders and risked your live not only because of the Titans, but because of the game."

"It was difficult, but in the end I managed to survive. And all I played this game against are corpses in the graveyard or rotting in jail, their lives completely ruined. Those are the only possible endings for those that lose the game."

"I… I see" the youngster got up, ready to return to his friends. "Thank you, captain. Hearing you talk gave me a new perspective of what we are trying to achieve" he put made a salute. "I won´t disappoint you."

"Eren…" he stopped the other. "I think you indeed have the determination to survive this game, but remember that sometimes is better not to play alone" his eyes widened. "Use all your assets to come out first ever, even if you have to cheat" he returned to his cup of tea. "Playing in teams is also not so bad."

"Ye… yeah" he returned inside, new light in his eyes. The game of power… he was entering the game of power and, for his and his friends´ sake, he couldn´t lose. Which meant they need to learnt to play and stick together as strong allies. That way they could play the game better than anyone.

"Oh, you are back" Armin got his nose out of the book he was reading while the girls struggle with the sewing needles. Much to their collective surprise, the brunette took a book and opened it in the first page. He started reading with a determination only seen when he wanted to kill Titans. "What are you doing, Eren? I thought you hated books."

"Yes, but we need to learn to be nobles, no?" he replayed the conversation he just had with captain Levi in his head. "If we want to survive nobility, then we are going to need to learn, so we can influence the balance on Historia´s favour. As captain Levi just put it, we need to play the game of power" they all looked inquisitive, so he explained it to them. "It´s time we master a new type of weapon."

"Yeah" Armin looked even more motivated now. Mikasa nodded at him, now more concentrated in her sewing work. From a crack in the window, Levi watched them. There were new players on the game. What will eventually happen? Only time could tell… but he had the feeling that they were going to be a fantastic team that will defeat anyone who get into their ways. After all, to put this world in the correct direction, it was just what was needed.

Hello! New chapter and new answers to the questions. Now... will Eren learn to play the game as well as Levi? Or is his determination going to fail him? Review


	7. Chapter 7

"I´m surprised that you are here" Javi said before coughing. "You haven´t come here since I gave you the papers to signal that you are my legitimate heir."

"I had some time free… besides you called me" Eren answered, sitting down next to his uncle. The man smiled wickedly, knowing full well what he was doing with the resto of his time. He could see it in the dark rings around his eyes that the experiments with his Titan were going on none stop and in his posture that the etiquette lessons were equally as bad. "Why did you want me to come, uncle Javi"

"I wanted you to be there for the reading of my will… I want you to see the faces of my arrogant nephews and nieces… my wives´ nephews and nieces before they compose themselves. It will surely give you a clear idea of how nobility is."

"You mean the game of power captain… Prince Levi is always talking about?" Eren learned recently that in certain occasions he should always call a person by his title, not by their rank in the military. The old man was impressed, as he never thought that he would tell them of that this early in their training. "Did you played it?"

"Oh, yeah, many times. To escalate in the nobility I had to do some work… some dirty work. And use others that in their time were using me" he sighed. "I learned the hard way that, despite all the training my father gave me to play it, I was not always the better. And that when dealing with a superior player, you have to sometimes… change strategies. I don´t know if you follow me."

"No, I´m just… a bit surprised that you met a superior player and still lived to your old age. The cap… the prince told us that if you lose, you die."

"I was not exactly a loser, we were in the same band. Allies you could call it… and that was the only reason I survived to my first efforts to play the game" he looked at the sealing. "Gloria Bernhart, that was her name. she used to be my superior in the MP, a member of nobility and the most arrogant bitch I ever knew" he said in disgust. "She was an amazing player despite all her flaws. More than me. When I thought I was using her, she was already two steps ahead and winning, giving me the scraps like a good dog. But even so… she never get what she truly wanted."

"What was that she wanted"

"The disband of the Survey Corps" Eren´s eyes widened. "Oh, you truly didn´t thought that Rod Reiss was the first to want the corps disbanded, no? Let me tell you that there were a lot of people that would give an arm for that"

"Then how…" the shifter stopped at mid-sentence. He was about to ask how the corps survived when he already knew the answer. With luck and a player to keep them alive. It was all that was needed.

"Captain Bernhart was truly an amazing player, but when confronted with a superior player that also had a superior team, neither her nor I had exactly a good chance" the uncle told. "I have to say that I never saw the benefits of a team, always wanting to work alone. And I never saw Sharle as anything else than a bargain chip, one of my worst mistakes."

"The team? That was the answer?"

"Of course! A great team will always turn the table to your favour! Cardin Baumeister understood it better than myself back then" Javi answered. "He was a disastrous soldier before the gear was created, then he turned into one of the best Titan killers from the legion, but never surpassed Kiklyo. But instead, he surpassed him in ability to play the game"

"I don´t really understand"

"Then I will reassume it for you" he lifted his fingers. "The Survey Corps survived my captain for a number of things. First, it was the old gear designed by Angel Antonell, that allowed them to kill at least one Titan. It was uncomfortable and problematic, but a beginning, most of the original design is still part of the new, including the components" one finger down. "Then there was Sharle´s genius inventive, that managed to transform that inadequate gear into something functional that could kill more than one titan. She changed the place where the wires were located and added the gas function, put the swords in the hands of the soldiers and the spare blades in the hips."

"That sound like a huge improve" the young Titan was amazed and proud of his grandmother. If Sharle was so smart, then she would be wasted as a bride for some snob. "I wish my mother would have told me about her when she lived."

"Carla probably had her own reasons to hide her and Kiklyo from you" Javi said with a smiled on his face. "Returning to what we were talking about, the next reason was Kiklyo´s own skill with the gear. Some said that no soldier managed to surpass him until Levi Ackerman joined the corps. I´m more inclined to say that he was more like you. He was convinced that the Titan would someday cross the Walls and eat all humans, so he worked harder than anyone." he sounded almost fondly. "And then there was commander Carlo Pikale´s name. It was rumoured that his father killed a Titan even before the gear was complete. In really it was his friend Solm who killed the Titan… in front of the Legion. Solm was grabbed by the Titan when he was trying to help a comrade, but managed to grab with his teeth a explosive and twisted his body. Accidentally, he hit the back of the throat and blew up the nape…"

"The Titan was killed" Eren was surprised again. "So… this Solm is the soldier that sacrificed himself to show us the Titan´s weak spot? THE soldier?"

"Yes, he was. I didn´t knew Solm personally, but I don´t think he was happy with doing that. His wife was expecting a baby, one he will never know" it was strange how much Javi knew of history of the Legion. Well, the man tried to destroy it, it was only normal that he would know about it. "And then… after all that… the ability of Cardin to play the game, gained from living in the nobility. Never underestimate that. Gloria did and she was defeated."

"So… she is dead?"

"Now yes, but in the past she had a worse destiny. She was jailed for life after trying time after time to defeat Cardin in her own power game. Always his ideas will save the Legion and always were the doom of her."

"I understand" in that moment the butler announced the arrival of the lawyer and the nieces and nephews of the lord, along with their spouses. Eren offered him an arm to help him stand up. Javi did with a pained sound and grabbed a walking came near his bed. They began walking towards the salon, where a strange congregation of people. They were too surprised by the presence of such a being in the house of the last member of house Innocencio. Javi sat down in am ornamented sofa and gave the signal to proceed with the reading.

"… I would like to give my heirloom to someone that shares my own blood" this surprises the relatives in the salon. "So I declare the only son of my niece Carla, Eren Jeager, my one and only heir. I also stipulate that his sister Mikasa Ackerman will have a dowry of…"

"What?! The Titan boy will inherit everything?! You surely have to be joking!" the other people started screaming in outrage. Some of them have twisted expressions of confusion and anger before they managed to regain composure. Others not. Javi was right, this was something Eren needed to see. How nobility was like, all the hypocrisy, what they do to gain more. Love for interest. Care for money. The endless game of power and wealth the nobility played.

"It´s better than to give anything to you all, who will just dilapidate my fortune" the old man glared at them before signalling the lawyer to continue. Eren left the place more knowledgeable than he arrived, having seen in the stares of some of those relatives of his uncle the danger his life now was in. Despite the Titan, despite everything.

"How was your day?" was the hello he got from Levi, who was waiting for him in the entrance of the great Juridical Palace. They both entered the great fortification, where a Grand Trial against one of the Traitors to Humanity was being celebrated. "That bad?"

"I´ve seen in the eyes of some people a greed I never believed humans capable of"

"Then you are too innocent" was the answer. "I´ve seen that greed in the eyes of many human beings, one more despicable than the last, and much more. Perhaps this will be a good lesson for you, as the next head of a noble house. As our Hope too"

"Yes, that would be the case. Just as before, we need strong players to protect the corps from it´s final demise" the Ackerman understood without need of any explanation. It didn´t surprised him that someone before the royalty ever wanted to get rid of the corps, as they were practically a constant threat of rebellion. "Do you think Armin is ready?"

"You underestimate him if you think the blondie is a pushover anymore. In the days I have been training you, he has shown more improvement at the game than any of you, even my little cousin" they reached the hall where the trial was going to take place. "When we enter let him and Historia handle everything. Those two might teach you a lesson. And to those assholes too. They will shit their trousers before an hour passes."

"I have no doubt" after all Armin was a descendant of Cardin Baumeister, one that surely has shown signs of inheriting his wits. Levi opened the doors and guided him to the place where the public was sitting down. Armin sat down in the demanding part´s place, while Historia was on her throne. The man that was brought in front of the queen was dirty, but still held his head high as if he was a person of power, as if he was over all the others in the room. He stared at the queen, the Traitor Queen, as the other prisoners liked to call her.

"Let´s finish with this charade quickly and get over it" he spat, looking at her with venom in his eyes. "It is true that I supported the monarchy… because it was my duty! I owed the king Rod all my devotion just like I did to Queen Frieda! To see you to dishonour the blood that flows in your veins…"

"You are not put on trial for being one of my father´s supporters" the young woman spoke as royal as she can, showing not much interest, but in the insides she was hoping that everything got according to plan. "The crime you are accused of is usurping another noble family."

"Usurping a…? That´s a false claim! Whoever that say I dared to put a hand on a fellow noblemen has to be lying!"

"The demanding part is Armin Arlet, grandson of the late Cardin Baumeister through his mother´s side" Historia introduced the young soldier, who looked calm despite being scared out of his wits. His new clothes, courtesy of Historia´s money, were as regal as any noble´s.

"That… that´s impossible!" the man was familiar with that name. it was true that the Baumeisters were a great family before his father managed to make the former grand minister and head of that family to fall out of grace with the king to usurp their properties and position, but they made sure they were all dead! Specially the son and heir Cardin, who was executed along with the worst criminals being put in a cart and sent to the Titans. "Cardin Baumeister was dead before any relative of him could be produced, he is lying."

"I´m afraid not, sir" Historia took a paper from one servant. "Apparently along with Cardin was a new recruit of the Survey Corps that the MP wanted to execute under false charges. This recruit managed to save himself and Cardin, with the help of the Survey Corps, which he joined. In reality, Cardin Baumeister died in an expedition, under the name of Carl Baum, leaving behind a daughter, a baby grandson and evidence enough for them to recover what was once his."

"That´s… even if Cardin Baumeister survive enough to father a daughter, none of his descendants would be able today to recover the goods of the family! He evaded the law and the Survey Corps too by saving him! The ones being on trial for freeing a convict should be them!"

"Of course, bring Carlo Pikale, Kiklyo Munsel and Cardin Baumeister" she mocked. "The thing is, you still usurped that family´s wealth according to this letter your lord father left behind" she showed them the letter. "It proves that he conspired with some of the congressmen to frame the prime minister Baumeister for theft."

"I… I… never knew anything of this!" he quickly said. "I didn´t knew of my father´s actions again the prime minister. I was just a boy!"

"Then how did your name came in this other letter as the one that talked in the name of your father to the other congressmen" she showed the others in the room how deeply involved was this man, even as a boy, in the ploys and corruption of the nobility. "It seems to be you were very aware of your father´s plot to gain the fortune of the Baumeister for yourself."

"I was just a messenger! I delivered letters, that´s all! Never spoke to someone else myself!" tried to excuse himself the man. If he managed to convince the queen, he would get it out of this alive, even if he had to return the fortune of the Baumeister to Cardin. Later, if he ever get out of that blasted cell, he would slice Armin Arlet in half and throw his remains to the Titans, as he would his grandfather. "I… I can give him back… everything…"

"It seems that more reparation is in order" Zackley got up in that moment, reading the documents. "As for the other conspirators" he made a signal and some men were pushed into the room. "They already confessed the involvement of their ancestors in the plot again another noble family."

"I… I…" he stuttered. They all knew since boyhood how the game was and now they were all finished. All because Cardin Baumeister was smarter than them.

"And for your crimes, I sentence you to a life in prison" the queen finally pronounced. "All of your properties and money will go to pay the reparation to the royal house, house Baumeister and house Innocencio, who helped them recover the proofs that led to your downfall"

"Do you realised what just happened?" Levi whispered to Eren´s ear. "The queen just granted you more wealth and herself, do you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because, even if you are loyal to her, she can´t allow a noble house to be more powerful than herself. Even if the royalty is not the one truly ruling the country as it was in times of her father, she have to prevent another coup against her by placating the nobles, give treasures to those loyal to her and preventing anyone else form having more than her or enough to form a coup. It´s really simple" he answered. "You have to learn to read this power moves, if you want to survive in court"

"I know" the shifter answered. He still wasn´t as clever or as good a player as Historia and Armin, who were the ones that mounted this, but he was sure that, given the time, he will surprise everyone. "And now? What happens next?"

"Next? The coronation"

-A few days later-

"All Hail Queen Historia!" the people cheered for their new queen, before whom the commanders of the military forces knelt and she then bowed to them, crown in head. Next she made a military salute, looking like a true warrior despite the rich dress she was currently in. Eren was looking the coronation from the front lines, that were reserved for nobility. He was there to bow before her in the name of house Innocencio. By his side were Armin and Mikasa, who looked weird in the dress that was selected for her. And Uncomfortable.

"You could have stayed behind, you know" her adoptive brother whispered to her. The girl shook her head. She will be by his side every time he needed. In the other side of the line, just in front of the platform, captain Levi stood, as elegant as the occasion signalled. As the oldest male relative, he will escort the new queen through the line, where everybody will bow to her. "Well, it wouldn´t have done so to shield her from this" Armin took him out of thought, smiling sheepishly before remembering that he shouldn´t do so. "Remember that tonight is our fire proof. The coronation fest and banquet in the Palace"

"I dreaded it" the shifter said before returning his attention to the royal girl, who got down from her platform. She began her walk, leaving kneeling people in her way. Eren, Armin and Mikasa imitated them when she walked in front of them. Once the spectacle was finished, they were allowed to return to the headquarters, where the female Ackerman quickly changed clothes.

"I can´t believe anyone would like to wear something like this" she said, putting her uniform in the room. Downstairs Sasha, Connie and Jean were making some bets. She sat next to Eren, not at all interested in what they were talking about… until she saw the face of her two childhood friends. "What are they doing?"

"They are betting about who of us will screw up first and how" Armin explained, mortified. "And I´m afraid they might be right."

"How so?"

"I bet the first one is Eren by stepping on the toes of his dancing partner!" Jean put some coins over the table, making the other two laugh while the mentioned shifter´s ears go red. Not he regret telling Jean about his problems learning how to dance.

"Good one, Jean!" Connie laughed more, putting another set of money over the table. "But no! Eren is most likely to go screaming around that he is going to kill all they Titans when we get to Shiganshina" the three stopped for a moment "I bet it´s Armin by getting too nervous and empting his glass of wine over someone!"

"Brilliant!" the soldiers continued to laugh at their expenses. It was potato girl´s turn, because she was the one putting something on the table… but it was not money. "I bet this jam that Mikasa is going to be the first one because she will punch whoever gets to her nerves! Or talks to Eren!"

"Sasha, it´s not fair, you will have eaten that jam by the time we are supposed to collect the price" Connie signalled, noticing that the jam had some teeth marks on the outer surface. He extended his hand. "Money or no bet. And play nice, potato girl"

"But my money is to buy food" the female soldier screamed, but finally gave a coin. The other two sighed and let her eat in peace while looking at the assembled trio. "So… how is noble life threating you, guys? Have you thought about quitting the military corps and living a quiet life out of your rents?"

"No way, that would be you, horse face" the shifter answered, grinning at him. "I accepted the inheritance of my mother just because it would help Historia… and us! How do you think we are going to keep stability if there are no noble houses totally faithful to the new queen? Everything we have done will turn into a disaster."

"Tell me about it" the smallest of them all said, passing a hand through his hair. "The last day we were in one of her orphanages, it was a nuthouse. I can´t tell which of the children is madder, if the ones from the poor parts of Trost or those of the underground" he shook his head. "But in the end, seeing their smiled was worth the visit"

"And talking about visits, Connie, how is your mother?" Armin dared to ask. Instantly, the light in the room disappeared and the soldier felt into a depressed state, along with fury. The blond instantly knew he stepped in forbidden territory. "I see, sorry, I…"

"I will tell you, tell all of you" he clenched his fists in rage. "You want to know how my mother is? Titanized! That´s the answer! She is still a fucking Titan! And I have no hopes of her returning to be a human! Not after what that simian beast did to her, dammit!" he got up and kicked his chair. "Why… did it have to be my town?"

"I´m sorry, Connie" Armin put an arm behind his friend´s back. "I´m truly sorry, it´s just that… I didn´t think… Sorry" he didn´t know what else to say. "Maybe… once we got to the basement we could reverse whatever that monkey did to her and…"

"Yeah, yeah, don´t give me false hopes" he just sat down again. "Everything Hanji have tried was useless, there is no more to do" his hands were white. "The captain said that when we go to Shiganshina there is a possibility that he is going to be there, right? Well, if he is there… the I´m going to cut him to ribbons for my family! That´s why I have been working so hard to improve with the gear!"

"Connie, you and all of us. Remember that we still have a score to settle with Reiner and Berthold" Jean said comfortably. he was working hard too, to become an even better Titan slayer, one the Legion could be proud of. Then… then he will have that life of commodity as a hero he ever asked for. "And when you are occupied with the chimp dude…"

"You can have Reiner all to yourself, Jean" Springer smiled wickedly. "If Eren or the captain didn´t get to him fast enough. Are you sure you can deal with him before they arrive, Jean? Because I wouldn´t like my stellar moment to turn into a scream of RESCUE ME!"

"They are going to be too busy with Berthold or the chimp guy once he grabbed your sorry ass, Springer" Kirstein retorted. "Besides I´m better than you, probably I will have him melting under my feet before you even jumped from Wall Rose."

"Don´t joke around, probably they are going to…" the moment of jokes was interrupted because of the arrival of Levi, who has just finished with Historia´s ceremonial walk through the streets. Eren took it as a clue to go to his office, as it was too early to go to the ball. Once they were all in the same room, he served himself some tea and sat down.

"I see that you are enjoying your afternoon with the other cadets" he commented. "Well, tell them that the recess has finished. You will all train with the gear and a new weapon Hanji designed especially for the Armour Titan, except for you, Jeager" he looked at said shifter. "You are on hardening training again" he sighed. "Shitty glasses wanted to know if you can make stones with other form, perhaps a weapon?"

"I can try it" accepted the young soldier, saluting, but internally he was groaning. He was not unaware that sometimes using his Titan abilities could overtax his body, but he wanted to do everything in his power to win over the Titans.

"One more thing" he stopped his subordinate. "I want you here at least an hour before the party begins. Historia is going to need your support there and… I need to clarify something else with you. That´s all."

"With your permission, captain" they saluted and went away. They quickly reunited with the rest of their team, who put on the gears and started jumping around the training ground, as Hanji devised a new training from hell for them. It was the tenth time Connie kissed the ground when he finally found his voice to yell.

"Why are we working with flying TRUNKS?!" Jean, by his side, dodged a trunk by miracle, only to be hit by another at the moment. the only one that seemed to be doing fine was Mikasa, that managed to struck the thunder spear to the central fake titan´s nape and flow it up. The explosion left them all on the ground, marvelled at the sheer strength of the mad woman´s new asset.

"Excellent!" Hanji came clapping, happy with the results. Erwin, who was supervising the new weapon for it´s fire proof in Shiganshina, just swallowed hard. He didn´t think all the soldiers could use a thing like that. Mikasa, on her feet in a tree, got down to greet the superiors. "With the flaws in this new baby I didn´t think everybody was going to be able to use it. If any of you have used it, you will be raining around!"

"WHAT?!"

"Kidding, kidding… well, not much"

"Hanji-san…"

"But I was right, only someone with Ackerman speed and strength could use my new invention" she touched it. "Sharle Munsel have the prototype, but couldn´t find a way to make it work. Now, thanks to Eren´s power, I managed to finish her work. I´m a genius! Yes! I´m a true genius!"

"Hanji-san… please…"

"Easy, easy" she toned down. "Mikasa, dear, let me see your arm" she walked towards the woman to show her the arm. "Ajá, it´s fine except for a few bruises. I think that with some more training you will be able to use this safely" she tapped it. "After all my new lightning rod is especial"

"Excuse me, Hanji-san, but… I still don´t get how this new weapon of yours is going to help us to regain Shiganshina" Connie sat down in his place. "Or this exercises. It´s more like you wanted to kill us"

"Oh, no, I´m just putting a lot of faith in you" the glasses woman answered. "See this? It´s to simulate the attack from other titans around the principal titan" they looked at her without understanding. "Remember that the Beast Titan has a power similar to Eren´s to control other titans? Well, if we want to attack him, we will have to dodge many titans without dying, possible other object thrown by him. That´s why the trunks are moving around in every direction possible."

"And the weapon? Because it´s no blade. It can blow it´s nape, but also can a blade and it won´t kill us"

"Well, it´s because the thunder spear is not precisely designed for the Beast Titan. That one" she signalled her weapon, her little baby born with a precise purpose. "It´s for Reiner"

"Reiner?"

"Yes, I already tested it on some of the hardening we had" she grabbed an unused thunder spear. "With this, we will be able to blow up his exterior armour and expose his skin, making the nape available to hit by anyone" she explained. "Or at least it is supposed to do so. It worked on Annie´s hardening after all."

"Annie, eh?" Jean get up from the floor. "Have you been able to wake up the bitch? Because Hitch will like to have a few words with her… and by words I mean hitting her until she looks black and blue."

"I wouldn´t permit it, she could shift by that pain" the scientist smiled. "Even so, we are so close to regaining the Shiganshina district! I´m so happy for that!" she started clapping again. "The Reeves company said that when we recover it, they are going to organize a festival to reopen the place" she continued. "Oh! But perhaps they should clean the streets before! After so many years it could be quite the messy place!"

"Yeah… I think they should clean it… or make the prisoners clean it as part of their punishments" commented Armin, trying to soothe the pain in all his body.

"Oh! Good idea! I should tell that to Historia, she will be happy to help!" she then passed the thunder spear to Mikasa. "Shall we continue"

"…" a collective grunt was heard, but they got to work again. After all, it was their duty.

-Later-

"And another thing" Levi was giving them a refreshment of the lessons he gave them in ealier. "You three are very suitable matches for any members of high society. Your fortunes alone will draw any fortune hunters like flies to the honey" he warned them. "Even to you, Mikasa, as Eren´s uncle gave you a dowry enough to make any man rich."

"You won´t be with us, captain?"

"What are you, Jeager, children? I can´t be taking care of you all the time, I have to stay by Historia´s side. But be assured that I will be watching you and taking notes for everything you did wrong" the carriage stopped. "The most important thing is that you remain visible and don´t do anything stupid with those snobs. You can dance with them, share a conversation, even a glass of wine… but don´t leave, because believe me, they will exaggerate every innocent touch to gain what they want… your fortunes" he opened the door. "It´s time"

"Okay, let´s go to battle" Eren got down and offered a hand for Mikasa to take. Normally the female Ackerman wouldn´t take it, but she did. Because a lady always accepts a hand offered to her. By her adoptive brother´s arm she entered the dance room, where they were announced. Levi disappeared in that moment to fetch his cousin, returning a few minutes later with Historia by his arm. The music stopped for a moment when the queen entered the room.

"Her Majesty, Queen Historia, and his highness, Prince Levi" everybody bowed as they passed. Soon she was in the throne form where she will see everybody else dance and chat after they kneeled individually and put their gifts at her feet. Eren gave her gold for her to use in her orphanages, as well as Armin. She pretty much appreciated this, as well as Levi, who was very involved in this project as a way to repay Farlan and Isabel for their friendship. Finally Historia clapped and the dance began.

"May I?" Eren asked the captain, who just stared at him before accepting. "Sorry, but Armin asked Mikasa before I could and I needed to think fast. Hope that you don´t mind, captain"

"No, after all it was a very safe move" answered the Ackerman, doing the dance by memory. "But I can´t imagine how your little friend managed to ask her to dance before you when you were holding her arm" Eren looked sheepish. "Why did you want to dance with me, Eren? I can´t imagine another explanation."

"I don´t know, perhaps because the only person I have ever danced was you, captain, and you always said that I was the worst dancer you have ever danced with."

"You are, but I was not asked to dance in many balls" they moved again. "I was only the little underground dog Uri-san picked up for them, so I was not worthy of their attention" he stopped. "Wipe that grin, Jeager, it doesn´t mean you are not a horrible dancer, because you are."

"I know, but at least I´m not showing it now" he smiled and, for some reason, the Ackerman smiled too. Just a little. "I enjoy to talk about the game with you, captain. You have some good ideas about what to do in every turn. And the one about taxing the nobility different according to their previous loyalty was brilliant, even if you left Zackley gain the credit for it."

"Do you even understand my strategies, Titan?"

"Armin translated them for me"

"Well, you should stop depending on Armin on a daily basis and start thinking by yourself" they turned. "Hell know that we will need that soon"

"What a good couple, don´t you think, your Majesty?" Historia kept her poker face despite the horrible stench of the noble that approached her. "I´m surprised that you let lord Innocencio have such privilege as to dance with your last living relative, even if you two don´t exactly share blood."

"Lord Innocencio has been my supporter even before he found out I was meant to be queen, milord" she answered politely. "I just guessed that the least I can do to express my gratitude is to let him dance with my cousin."

"Of course… apart from giving him and lord Baumeister great properties, of course" he continued with the conversation, still looking at the still dancing couples. "Which takes me to my next question, your majesty, if you can forgive my daring. Are you planning to marry either of the young lords?"

"Daring question, milord" she stared at him with a poker face easily maintained, as she didn´t felt like marrying after losing Ymir. She knew that in the future she would have to for the bloodline to continue, but for the moment she still needed to heal. "But I will answer you that is none of your business to tell your queen when she needs to marry."

"I´m just worried that the queen will die without descendants, to lose the precious royal blood" he continued. "Besides… it reached my ears that the Ackerman blood is also precious to us" he kept quiet for a bit. "Perhaps you should marry your cousin off. King Uri already attempted once and, while is a pity that he couldn´t be spouse to Prince Ulkyn, you should consider to do it again. I have two sons you might consider as candidates for consorts. For the both of you."

"Milord, as I said before, a noble shouldn´t tell his queen when she needs to marry. And perhaps should know when it´s convenient for him to speak of this matters. No… milord?"

"If you change your opinion, I will gladly give you a son of mine for either of you" he left and she sighed. Levi was not going to like this… not one bit.

-After the party-

"SON OF A BITCH!" the scream woke up Erwin in the middle of the night, as well as half the headquarters… and Trost district. He got down the stairs to see what was happening when he crossed an irate Levi, who entered his room and slammed the door shut. He looked down only to see Eren, Armin and Mikasa there.

"What happened?"

"Do you really want to know, commander?" asked the blond.

"No" and he went back to sleep.

Hey! Sorry for not updating earlier, but here I am! Hope you enjoyed the fic, it´s approaching the return to Shiganshina arc! But the next one is... talk with ex commander Shadis! Review!


	8. Chapter 8

"The day of the operation is already set, for now you are just going to train and rest enough to assure your best performance" announced the commander, freeing them for the day. Eren, for his part, was not going to rest. The day before in the dinner with the new recruits he remembered something that could help them. Keith Shadis. Keith Shadis knew something about his father.

"Instructor Shadis" saluted Eren. Keith sighed when he saw some of the most important soldiers in the Survey Corps. He ushered them inside his quarters before they could disrupt the exercise and so he could talk in peace with them. There were some things he had to say, even to the prince. After serving everyone tea and state how much everyone has changed, he started telling them his history as a bystander.

"I met Grisha Jeager outside the walls" this surprised even Eren, the son of the man. "when I was coming back from an expedition. It wasn´t permitted for someone outside the Survey Corps to be outside the walls, so I handed him over to the Garrison. There he met Hannes…"

"Old man Hannes?" Armin asked, grasping something beneath his collar as he did when he was nervous. No one outside Eren and Mikasa knew it was a medallion from his mother. He normally never wore it, but the day Shiganshina was attacked he had the feeling he had to wear it in the morning, being that the only reason he still had that family heritage with him.

"You know him?"

"Of course, he was always pestering us for wanting to join the Survey Corps when we were little" although only Eren, who was talking, was pestered by him. "And he was the one to carry Mikasa and me to safety."

"He was, eh?"

"He also… saved us from the smiling Titan… when Reiner and Bertholdt tried to kidnap me" a moment of silence was made. "Sorry for the interruption, instructor. Please return to your history."

"Ummmm… well, I was saying that I met Grisha outside the walls" Shadis reassumed his story. "He was… strange is the only way to describe it. He knew his name, but otherwise he didn´t give any more information about himself. And I tried to find out, hard" the instructor apparently was lost in his memories. "Nobody knew a Grisha Jeager. I tried again with a portrait and nothing. He was like a ghost."

"So…"

"He said some strange things too" Keith continued. "About the Corps, about them being for special people. I started to think he was talking about me, that I was so especial… like commander Kiklyo and commander Carl" he stared at Eren. "I never thought he was a Titan, he was too… human… or maybe I didn´t want to believe he was so especial because I was jealous because Carla liked him so much."

"My mother… you fancied my mother?!"

"She never took me for anything but a friend" he sighed. "Carla even said that someone didn´t need to be special, because only being born in this world made them special. And she was happy with Grisha despite his weirdness, that´s all that…"

"Wait, weirdness? My father?"

"Yes, weirdness" Shadis crossed his arms. "Things with Grisha were normal until they started to get weird. First time it was the day commander Kiklyo had that accident during an expedition… and ended up with a leg and part of an arm ripped off" he grimaced. "You probably don´t remember, you were nearly one year old when that happened" he told the young Titan before continued. "I remember he was still alive when we brought him home" he shivered. "He resisted a lot. Grisha tried to save him, but it was no use… commander Carl entered when he was dying… and returned with a terrified look on his face."

"He had just lost his commanding officer and friend, it was obvious that he was going to be terrified" Jean commented from his chair, sipping a little bit of tea.

"No, this was different. They were terrified when commander Pikale died too, but this was a complete new kind of terrified. He was… terrified because of something Grisha did or said when Kyklio was dying" everybody turned to him. "After that, Carl… well, Cardin, as we all know now, started to act with complete recklessness, totally disregarding his life. He always told us that he had to reach a place… until that last expedition when he died."

"My grandfather… was devoured by titans, no?" Armin asked. "I heard once form my mother that her father died in service against the Titans."

"Yes, he did… trying to reach whatever Grisha told him" he put his hands on the table. "Before he died, Cardin gave me a notebook. The same notebook the central MP stole from me. He said everything was inside, the answers."

"Yes, I brought it" Levi put the thing on the table. "I wonder if you could decipher it for us, because we weren´t able to understand whatever was inside."

"Unfortunately, me neither" Shadis admitted. "I tried many times to decode it in the short time I had it after commander Cardin´s death to no avail." He passed the pages of the book. "I don´t know, maybe I missed something"

"Yes, there has to be…" Armin suddenly ripped the medallion from his neck and tossed it on the table. "Do you have a magnifying glass around here?" he asked. Once he had the thing in his hands, he inspected the medallion with a closer look. "It´s a code… the book is written in code to protect the information from anyone who would like to destroy it" he signalled the medallion. "And this is the key."

"It´s also Sharle-san´s work" Keith said after a closer look. "I would recognize one of her masterpieces everywhere."

"So… to read this book, the paper and the medallion has to be together?" asked Eren. He didn´t receive his answer, as Armin took leave with the two things. While they heard the rest of the history from the instructor´s mouth, he worked on the code. His grandfather was truly a genius, to make such an elaborated thing to hide this information from the royal family… wait, how did Cardin know that he had to hide this from the royal family? Strange.

"YOU SHOULD HAVE…"

"I HAVE IT!" he interrupted Hanji´s recriminations to her former commanding officer, waving some new papers, filled with newly written things. He put it in front of the other officers, along with the book and it´s key. "I had a little problem with a few letters, but I finally got it. You are not going to believe it, but Grisha-san was… he was…"

"What, Armin? What was him?"

"A man born outside the Walls" this left them all completely cold, looking at him with disbelieve. "I didn´t believe it at first, but he was. He revealed this to Kiklyo and Cardin before the first died. And he knew the place where human beings transformed into Titans, like Connie´s mother. That was what Cardin was looking for."

"So… that´s the secret in the basement? That he was from outside the Walls and the location where Titans were born?" asked Eren, eager to know. "Where is it?"

"Cardin didn´t give any details, perhaps not even Grisha himself gave them" the blond sighed. "The only thing he passed on was that it was in the seashore" Sea, ever the sea. It was making Eren sick. "By the way, Eren, Grisha mentioned he had a sister that was murdered. He said that the outside world was hell too."

"Hell… perhaps my aunt was killed by titans too" he commented, absentminded. His father was from a foreign land, a land beyond the sea… did they have walls too? To keep the Titans outside? Another Walled country was the last thing he wanted to see. Perhaps it was underground! No, that didn´t sound good too. "Can you read it?"

"You are not going to like it… and it contains little information we don´t know already."

"More so, read it"

-Flashback-

I was waiting outside as many of the legion to know if my best friend would live. Our commander, the best commander the Legion had, was lying nearly death, bleeding through his leg and arm. His severed leg and arm. Sharle and Carla were waiting outside with me, too worried. It was trying to calm them down when Grisha came outside, calling for me. His grim expression told me everything. Kiklyo won´t make it.

"Are you here, Cardin?" Kiklyo muttered from the bed. The doctor sat down on the other side of the bed. "Don´t worry, Grisha, it´s fine. I trust Cardin with my life and more… your secret will be safe with him as much as with me" he coughed. "Tell him what you just tell me"

"I´m… I come from far away from the Wall" my eyes opened like a bug´s. I knew that Grisha guarded many secrets, but nothing like this came to my mind. I was about to ask him how he survived outside the walls and how many more like him were outside the walls when he continued. "There… it´s hell. People kills people… people gets turned into titans… my wife suffered that destiny… my first wife, Dina…"

"What?!" Humans turned into Titans? The Titans were humans? If that was so… how many murders did I commit? How many people did I kill with the excuse of saving humanity? And, if that was so, how did Grisha arrived here as human and not in titan form?

"People kills people… like that man did to my sister" he breathe din hard. "And people gets turned into titans, like my Dina was" he looked at his dying father in law. "Don´t misunderstand me, Kiklyo-san, I love your daughter, but there is not a day I don´t think about Dina and our time together. And how I caused her demise" he was lost in thoughts. "She smiled, you know… she smiled before she turned, telling me she will find me no matter what… before she was kicked out the platform in the seashore…"

"Seashore? Is there where the Titans are born?"

"Yes, in the seashore" I have heard about that place before. The father of my son in law had a very illegal book I liked to read to my grandson, about the outside world. There was a chapter about the seas in the world and the seashore. That was the moment I decided I need to find it. No matter what, I needed to find it. "How did you arrive here alive?"

"Someone sacrificed himself to allow me to arrive here… Eren Krueger was his name" he looked at his hands. "He was eaten by a Titan"

"I´m sorry"

"It´s fine, he wasn´t going to live much longer" Grisha commented. "Inside this walls… life is much better but… you must prepare" he looked to the window and into the horizon. "You don´t know when they will come."

"Why would humanity try to kill humanity?"

"You know humans, you know how they are" Kiklyo coughed in that moment. "We… we don´t have much time, Cardin… I don´t have much" he was slowly drifting off, apparently forever. "This is all for me… please… prepare them… as I can´t do… find the seashore… the place Titans are born in… please… confirm this and… prepare."

"I will, I promise"

"Send Sharle… and Carla" he asked finally, fighting to stay conscious. I got outside and send both women. A few hours later, I was asked to carry the coffin to the graveyard. I stayed in front of his grave that day, thinking about what to do. Grisha didn´t tell me more… except that royalty will do anything to prevent the world to know this. I took his warning very seriously and decided to use this code. I asked Sharle to make a jewel for Diane with the key to the code and used my power as commander to advance more and more… I felt bad for my men, but I have to keep my promise… keep my promise to find out… and prepare for war…

Finally, I arrived to the seashore where Grisha saw the Titans being born. Or I think it was the place, because I can see the platform. And the human… humans falling from the platform and turning into titans in midfall. I can also see the face of cruelty clearer than in any noble I have met. Grisha was telling us the truth and now… now I´m doubting I´m coming back home alive. Anyway, I have to try and tell everyone what I have seen, because if I don´t then it´s not hope for humanity.

-end of the Flashback-

"So… Cardin saw the place Titans were created?" Erwin asked after they told him about the book and the code Armin cracked while they talked to Shadis. "And now we can safely say that Eren´s father, Grisha, was a human coming from outside the walls."

"Yes, he was" Hanji commented. She was still disappointed with commander Shadis, but the information they managed to obtain in that visit was more than enough to convince everyone that the secret in the basement was crucial for humanity´s future. Or at least for humanity in the walls. "Apparently he inherited his Titan powers from this Eren Krueger, who saved him in that platform Cardin mentioned."

"Yes, we can safely assure that… which returns us to the Recovering Shiganshina mission" the commander looked around. "How are the troops doing? Specially the new recruits, those that transferred from the other militaries."

"They are doing fine" Levi answered. "Not like our veterans, but fine for MP and Garrison members"

"It´s the least we can ask" he sighed. "And apparently all we can get" the blond got up. "For now we should rest until the day arrives. We have to be in the best of conditions and a rested body is fully needed for this mission. Specially you, Levi."

"I will make sure to rest enough time."

"Seriously, Levi, you should return home and rest" Smith continued. "What are you doing in that little room in our headquarters when you have a manor to go to? Return home and rest some time. It´s an order."

"I will" Levi got up. Uri´s… his manor was dirty and decayed without use, but he probably was going to be able to clear at least his room before the end of the day. So he grabbed the first carriage and went to Wall Sina. Once in the place, he looked at the house of his childhood. The same three with the hole in the trunk, the same bars surrounding the property and the same house in the middle of a wild garden… apparently he should fix that too. He walked in and, with all the cleaning products he brought, the Ackerman started the cleaning in his room. Once it and the bathroom were done, he laid on the bed, tired. He turned towards a drawing of the old king with him… and noticed it. The mark was not fine. "What the…" he grabbed it and took out a few sheets of paper. It was filled with Uri´s handwrite. "Uri-san…"

"Dear Levi,

I don´t know why it took so long for me to write this letter to you, perhaps as long as it took me to order Kenny to prepare for war, a war only me knew was coming. I mean, I have power, Levi, I have a power you wouldn´t understand. I have so much of it… totally useless. I feel so powerless, so useless… all because of the vow of our ancestors to keep peace whatever the cost was" his letter became shaky in that moment. "This includes keeping everybody ignorant of the truth, so this goes totally against the vow… so I guess it´s not time to beat around the bush. I´m literally trying to control myself not to burn this letter, so I asked Kenny to hide it where I can´t find it… where it can reach you. So read carefully:

Remember the book I told you not to read when you were fifteen? It details the history of the Titans, beginning with Ymir. Ymir Fritz, my ancestor and first Titan, a queen. Somehow she came in contact with the source of all living material and it gifted her the power to turn into a Titan. Thanks to her, our people prospered. When she died, her Titan was divided on nine parts. Those are the ones called Original Titans or shifters and inhabit human bodies, granting the normal Titans the ability to become human again. This are the Founder Titan, the Female Titan, the Beast Titan, the Attack on Titan, Jaws Titan, the Armoured Titan, the Colossal Titan, the Cart titan and the Warhammer Titan. All of them have enormous power and aren´t to be taken lightly.

I… don´t think I can write anything more" his letter was practically unreadable by now, but he forced himself to continue. "The will of the First King is getting stronger and stronger… but I have to warn you… and everyone… for the war yet to come. My duty as king… is… I can´t…MINE WAS THE FOUNDER…" there was a great ink spot on that point, which ended the letter. The Ackerman was livid. It was a good thing Erwin suggested him to clean his manor, if only to find that piece of paper. He quickly put the thing in his pocket and ran out of the place, grabbing the first carriage to Wall Rose.

"Erwin"

"Levi! What are you doing here?!" the commander was surprised to see the captain, who just walked towards him and handed him the piece of paper. After a few seconds, the blond tore his eyes away from the letter. "The king wrote this? Your adoptive father?" the Ackerman nodded. "Call Hanji, we need to get to work with this." Within the next hour, the three of them made a list of the Titans and the owners. In the end, the woman got away from the papers with a content sigh.

"Okay, the Armoured Titan is Reiner´s, obviously" she said, getting away from the list. "The Colossal is Bertholdt´s and the Female is Annie´s" Zoe pushed another piece of paper towards the other two. "The Founder must be Eren´s…"

"It makes sense, Grisha ate Frieda, who ate Uri-san" reasoned Levi. "But Grisha was a shifter on his own before he ate Frieda. I think he was the Attack On one."

"Must be" the glasses girl wrote something. "So… Eren is the Founder and the Attack on, good" she continued writing. "The simian friend must be the Beast one, Ymir has to be Jaws… but we can´t be sure her power is still within her. Warhammer and Cart are still missing" she stopped her writing. "Now, the powers…"

"Attack on can fight even better than Founder, as Frieda found out" the raven commented. "And after drinking that liquid from Rod, it can also harden it´s skin" he stared at another paper. "Founder can control other titans like a king it´s troops… and manipulate memories and minds, except for a few exceptions."

"Yes" Hanji grabbed another one. "Armoured has hardened skin better than any Titan and it´s strength is something to fear… enough to break something made of a Titan´s hardened skin" she passed. "And Colossal is as big as one of those titans inside the walls and had that heat shield…" she continued with her writing. "Female can call other Titans and harden her skin" she picked up the sheet with the monkey drawing. "Beast is a chimpanzee… I can´t tell about the others."

"We surely will know soon" the blond commented, sighing. "Thank you for bringing this to us, Levi. It´s going to make our mission easier… or at least I hope" he grabbed again the papers handed to them by Armin. "The platform from which they throw the people that turned into titans… I wish I could see that."

"Well, if you want to get eaten by a new-born Titan…"

"I won´t let you" the Ackerman said. He grabbed the letter and put it in his pocket. It was the last message Uri-san wanted to give him, he wanted to keep it as close to him as he can. Erwin looked at him with a worried look.

"You should go back home tomorrow, we still have time until the mission began" Levi just nodded. His especial mission was to guard the syringe and use it when the time comes. To turn someone into a titan and steal one of those original titan powers. "By the way, how is your uncle? I heard his last subordinate was discharged yesterday from the hospital."

"Well…"

-In the MP headquarters-

"But it´s four ones…" BANG!

"The great military policeman is here!" Kenny barged into the quarters of the officers of the MP, dressed in his new uniform. He hated the damn thing, but what he hated even more was useless officers that spent all their days drinking and playing cards. Traute followed him, already accustomed to his eccentricity. The Ackerman walked straight towards the table with the card game, kicking it through a window.

"What the…"

"Time for the game is over, now you have to put your fat buts to work" he kicked other things on through the window, immediately catching the attention of Nile Dokk. He got out of his office only to see the mayhem caused by his new assets.

"I asked them to change the MP… but not this way!" he finally got to see the mayhem that mad Kenny did. He was still scaring the officers, much to the new recruits amusement. Everything was messy in the office, specially the paperwork in his men´s desks. "I told them to finish this last week too."

"You crazy man! What are you doing?!" one of them, of a noble family, addressed Kenny with disrespect, which was answered with a very sharp encounter with the reaper.

"Crazy? Crazy? Well, I guess I am… but guess what? Better crazy than fucking useless like you all!" he kicked another thing through the window, catching not only the recruits attention, but the bystanders outside. "Don´t you what´s going on out there?"

"Yes, the Scouts are getting special attention for the first time in centuries" one answered with a tone that said that he didn´t care. "So what? That doesn´t affect us. No one really believed that they are going to recover Shiganshina district after a whole army failed, so we will just continue with our lives and…"

"Oh, we have a smart boy here" the man started to tremble when the intimidating form of the Ackerman started to loom over him. "And you who know everything, tell me… what are we going to do if they actually succeeded in taking it back?"

"We… well" he swallowed before continuing talking. "We… I guess we will have to work more, as the newies we have right now wouldn´t be able to patrol the whole territory… perhaps a few lower officers will have to take care of Wall Sina until we receive a new batch of soldiers to replace the ones stationed in Wall Maria" he then remembered he was fighting with the man in question. "E… even so! There is no need to worry about, the higher officers…"

"Are corrupted little bags of shit" Kenny grunted, prompting him to the ground. "Leave the work for the newies? That the kind of corruption that put our corps in the problem it is now! So from now on…" he started throwing knifes, spooking the people around him even more. "Now things are going to change. No more games, no more alcohol during work. Right now, you are going to work."

"And who are you to force us?" one tried to challenge him.

"Great you ask. I´m captain Kenny Ackerman, form the Central MP, anti-personnel squad" this surprised them. The news that the anti-personnel squad was being reassigned were known by everyone, but none believed them. "From now on me and my subordinates are going to put you in shape."

"With all due respect, sir…"

"NO BUTS!" he signalled. "War is coming our way and with useless bags of shit like you all, we are not going to win" he eyed them with a maniacal grin. "so, from now on, I´m giving you a crash course to remember how to use the gear"

"WE ALREADY KNOW!"

"Yeah, I heard you all were the first places in your classes in the training corps" he passed his eyes again through them. "I certainly hope that no, because if that is true, then we are royally fucked"

"Sir…"

"I will be training you, so… welcome to hell newies! I hope for your sake that some of you retained some of the ability with the gear, because you are going to need it!" laughing like a maniac, Kenny left the room for the training grounds. Nile Dokk stayed where he was, watching his men talking between themselves. Well, at least the corruption problems and lazy bums in his office will be taken care.

"Aren´t you going to say something, commander?" one of his officers asked with eyes full of hope. Apparently he was the only one his men had. Sadly, he had to let them down.

"Yes, take care" he waved his hand and walked away.

-In Wall Sina, the next day-

"Uri-san" Levi put flowers on the former king´s tomb. It was very ornamented, he noticed, with the Reiss royal emblem in the high part of the stone. Some gold appliances adorned the name too. "Sorry for not coming earlier, but… I guess whatever excuse I have won´t be enough" he touched the stone. "You were like a father to me and I didn´t visited you until years after you died, horrible of me" he caressed it. "You were always thinking about me… even if I ran away and threw your plans through the window… even if I disappeared… I´m sorry…"

"Captain Levi?" a soft female voice came from behind. He turned around, seeing Historia standing there with some flowers in her arms. She saw the tomb and instantly her expression turned a bit sad. "I didn´t mean to intrude, I just… Are you seeing uncle Uri?"

"For the first time since he died" he walked towards the young queen, who was dressing like she did in her time as a pheasant. "What are you doing here?"

"Seeing Frieda nee-san… and father and everyone else, but especially her" she signalled the new tomb and the ones near it. Levi nodded, remembering when they buried the Shadow King, as Rod was now called. Not many people attended, just military officers, and they did only because of duty. In the end it was a rather cold thing without any tears for the departed man. "I heard some people came to present their respects."

"Your sister was dearly beloved" he said. "Fear not, she would not be forgotten"

"I know, the farmers around Mytras started to call her the Lady of the Camps once they were told she was their queen. It´s a good epithet to be remembered for" she smiled. "She would have liked that."

"Yes… like the Goddess of Cattlemen" he answered, staring at the tombs of his former fiancé and the family who never accepted him as one of theirs. Historia put flowers in front of Frieda´s tomb and kneeled down to pray for her soul.

"I will be different… I will be a queen like none other" she promised in low voice. He nodded, already seeing it. She was going to be the queen that thought of her people and their people first, just what this walled world needed. And what Frieda wanted too. "Nee-san, I will take care of them for you."

"She would have been proud of you" he said truthfully. "She wanted so much to be that queen, but the Will of the First King got into her way" he caressed the old stone too, remembering the young girl he grew up with, the one that used to go on a horse ride with him to visit her younger sister. "She was a good lad who didn´t deserved what happened to her."

"Uncle Uri didn´t deserve that either" she cleaned her eyes, who were full of tears because of her memories of Frieda. "Guilt over what they were doing nearly destroyed them. To hide everything… it was killing them."

"At least he was able to resist it" Ackerman then started to tell her what they have just found. She touched her shin, thinking about the nine Titans. Nine… Eren had two, Reiner one, Annie one, Ymir one, Bertholdt one, the monkey one… where were the other two? Waiting for the moment to attack them? "We expect to see at least one more of them when we go to reconquer Wall Maria."

"See them, eh?" she remembered Reiner and Bertholdt in their Titan forms… and Ymir "Ymir… I mean, Jaws… will she be there?"

"Perhaps, I don´t know… I don´t even know if Ymir still has hold of the Titan" Levi walked along with her in the graveyard after they gave their last respects to their loved ones. "I heard that you are giving an speech before we depart from Wall Rose in the night. Have you already worked it out?"

"Yeah, mostly" she answered, walking down towards the carriage she arrived into. "You will be there, no?" he nodded. "Be safe when you reached wall Maria. Even if Eren manages to plug the hole in it, the monkey surely will have some titans waiting for you there."

"We will do so… and catch another Titan for our collection" the Ackerman stared into the distance. Wall Maria and one third of the territory of humanity… it was a large feat to conquer. And what is after that, the world Grisha Jeager came from… he couldn´t wait.

-The day of the departure-

"So you are going" Javi Innocencio was enjoying one last chat with his great nephew before he parted to the mission in Wall Maria. The young shifter nodded, sitting next to his bed. The curtains in the room were closed, allowing the sick man and his relative all the privacy they will need. "Do me a favour and avoid anything suicidal. It would be horrible for house Innocencio to lose it´s only heir now that it´s one of the most powerful noble houses."

"I don´t plan to die, uncle Javi, be relieved" Eren answered before getting up. The darkness in the room and the picture of his grandmother was creeping him out, especially since she looked so sad on it. As if she was attending a funeral. "I will come back"

"Do it in one piece, boy" Javi answered. The Jeager just walked outside the room. Goodbyes were not needed between them, both knew they were going to see each other again. Besides, the old man wasn´t very good at showing his affections. He went then to the quarters, where he reunited with his unit.

"Do we need to do this?"

"Shut up, Kirstein, we have to give Historia our support and her to us. That´s the only way people is going to believe this is going to work" answered Connie, putting on his uniform. Their horses were already saddled, their supplies packed and their equipment in position. Eren entered in that moment, wearing a grim expression. "And what has gotten into you now?"

"We are returning to the place I grew up, the place the Titans tampered… how do you think I should feel" he asked, making the other lower his head. Springer hasn´t gone back to Ragako since the village was destroyed and his family titanized. He visited his mother from time to time, of course… but he didn´t came back. "Sorry for mentioning that"

"Not, it´s okay. I didn´t want to return to Ragako either" the tiny man sat down for a moment. "Hey, Eren" he caught his attention. "Have you ever imagined the world your father grew up in? Just out of curiosity, of course."

"The outside world? Only free of Titans" he answered, putting on his boots. "I just keep myself focussed in the secret of the basement. Then I will think of the outside world, the sea… everything."

"Yeah" Armin was surprisingly the least enthusiastic by that perspective. He had always wanted to see the outside world, but… but then… something was off about this outside world, something that scared him. What if it was not like they all pictured it? But anything was better than staying ignorant, so he got on.

"Armin…"

"I´m okay" he didn´t even look at the concerned face of Mikasa, not then and not when they left. Historia´s speech, however, he did listen. She was in full queen regalia, much like in her coronation, and she looked imposing surrounded by the fire in the middle of the night. She talked about the war of humanity against the Titans and how this was the first step to regaining their world. Everybody was hypnotized with her… everybody except him.

"Armin, what´s happening?" Mikasa asked when they were about to leave, followed by the Reeves company cheers. He didn´t answer, just kicked his horse, riding right into Titan territory. Everything was better than remaining ignorant. That was what the first King didn´t understand. And that´s what they were going to right.

"Nothing" he just hoped that they survived what came next.

Hey! Sorry that it took so long, but I wanted to get it right. Now... the Return to Shiganshina arc began. What should I do? And what will come after? When they knew about Marley? Review!


	9. Chapter 9

Hello! Sorry for being late, but here I have the new chapter ou were expecting.

"I don´t see any Titan" they marched through the darkness, trying to reach the Wall Maria before the sun got out and woke up the Titans. Levi looked around, thinking about how strange it was to be walking around in enemy territory and not being afraid from Titans. Normally the expeditions began when there is light, so even he was a little disconcerted, but a look to a dormant titan made him feel better. It also made him remember the histories of the stars Uri-san often told him.

"You want to go to the ocean, no, Armin?" Eren and Mikasa were chatting with their friend… or more like Eren was trying to get a word out of him while the female Ackerman watched, a bit concerned. The blondie was quiet, too quiet. Even more than the more senior members of the Legion. And the captain practically can see the engines of his mind working at full speed.

"Leave him alone, brat, he needs a moment" the captain finally diverted the attention from their friend. Both youths were now eyeing him, a little bit confused. "Look, he is trying to find an useful strategy for all situations possible, to get us all out alive. Don´t pester him now"

"Who said that he should think about all that?"

"Erwin did" he answered, finding another dormant titan in a corner of the woods, completely still. "Face it, brats. He is smarter than anyone here excepting the four eyes and, as no one would trust her to make an useful strategy, the responsibility felt on him."

"Poor Armin" the brunette stretched a bit, finally leaving his friend by himself. "Hey, captain" the male Ackerman felt like groaning. Apparently he managed to draw the attention from Armin to himself, something he didn´t want. "is there something you want to see?"

"Eh?" he didn´t understand.

"From the outside world, I mean" the Jeager sighed. "Me, Mikasa and Armin wanted to see the ocean forever and some other people are recently talking about what they wanted to see" he smiled. "Since the books from the outside world were permitted again." He grunted and nodded, knowing that. Those books, as scarce as they were, got them a lot of new recruits eager to drop their lives to reach those fantastic places. "You never do, captain. Is there anything you want to see?"

"Hummmmm" that was a though question. He never gave much thought to the outside world and the places it had to offer. What he really wanted to see was… what made Karl Fritz, later Reiss, made such a cowardly vote. And what made Uri-san follow it apart from the damn brainwashing coordinate.

"Ummmmm, captain?" the brats, who were expecting an answer, stared at him with a dumb expression. Obviously he was taking more time to answer than normal. "If you don´t want to say…"

"No, it´s fine" he sighed, not being able to deny the green eyed shifter a contestation. "I want to know what was out there that made Uri-san keep that stupid peace vow" his fists clenched in the reins and his teeth gritted. "It´s just that… I knew Uri-san as if he was my own blood family… no, I knew him even more than Kuchel and Kenny. He was good, gentle and totally devoted to his people. He wouldn´t have taken his sweet time for something like preparing for war."

"Maybe it was the brainwashing mumbo jumbo that the Reiss family used…"

"No, he was… fighting it" he could somehow see it, the former king fighting in his head with Karl Fritz´s will. "I knew my… father" he let it out. The blond Reiss was the parental figure in his life, even more than Kenny, what was the problem in calling him that? "He was a strong person, totally devoted to his people and keeping them safe. He wouldn´t have started fighting so late unless there has been a reason… and I am determined to find out what the reason is" he let go of his reins a little. "After all, we have a war to win"

"Yes, the war against the Titans"

"I´m not so sure anymore, Eren, I´m not so sure" the corporal said in a low voice, eyeing for a moment the ring that used to be Uri-san´s. It was not the seal he actually gifted him before he run off, but… he left it behind for him, as a good luck trinket. He found it in one of his drawers along with a note that were more gifts hidden by Kenny in the house. Back to the ring, it was made of iron bamboo, like the 3DM gear, and had some stones incrusted… titan stones. From Uri-san´s own hardening. A nine pointed star was also carved in it.

"If it´s not against the Titans, then against whom?" Jean suddenly took interest in their conversation, while Connie and Sasha watched them. Armin was the only one still lost in thought.

"I think we are about to find out" he gripped his reins and continued walking. Soon they were going to arrive to the Wall, and with them the sunrise. Everybody knew the plan, Eren was walking straight to the hole and plug it with his hardening, they just guard until the monkey or any of his pals came to fight. He mentally recalled the nine names of the nine titans.

"…" Eren was about to talk to him again, but kept his mouth shut. Yes, they were about to find out. And after that… he just hoped they all came out alive. For the war to come… and because he didn´t want to lose anyone anymore. Armin, Mikasa, his friends, the captain… especially the captain. For a second he wondered when those feelings started to bloom, when they started to get so strong, but he couldn´t. the only think he knew was that if Levi were to die, he didn´t know how he will continue.

"Eren, did your dad ever gave you a clue about the thing in the basement?" Jean suddenly asked, waking him up from his thoughts.

"No, he never did" now he was wishing he would. Soon they arrived to Wall Maria, the old Shiganshina district wall still as magnificent as ever. The young shifter took a look around, trying to see his old home before he remembered it was crushed by a rock. Sent by Reiner… he was going to bloody murder Reiner. The sun hit them and he rushed to the Wall, covering the opening with his body and hardening his skin. The impression of his Titan´s body completely covered the opening and the gate was closed.

"Good work, Eren" someone congratulated, he didn´t know who. The Captain then gave him a hand, which he took to stand up. They both shared a look for some seconds before turning his eyes to their surroundings. Something was very weird in there. This was supposed to be Titan territory, there were supposed to be swarms of them, even close to the residential zone… more close to the former residential zone. But there were none.

"Something smells rotten… like a trap" Armin joined them on top of the Wall, his mind focussed on the environment. "Commander…"

"Follow Arlet´s commands" Erwin told his men. Some of them were against following someone so fresh in Legion, but after a short reasoning of their commander they opened to the idea. Finally, the soldiers searched around their surroundings and inside the walls.

"I found something!" someone alerted and suddenly Reiner appeared out of the Wall in full 3DM gear, ready to slash some of his former comrades. The monkey also appeared, along with some brainless titans, obviously within his control. Levi quickly put him on top of his priority list and got away from the other shifter to fight him.

"THE MONKEY! ATTACK THE MONKEY! THE NEWBIES TAKE CARE OF THE HORSES!" yelled the commander, quickly following his best soldier. The Ackerman, for his part, recognized the ability the strange shifter was using. Uri-san, Frieda… and Eren. They all used it. The coordinate of the royal family.

"I´m not a monkey" answered Zeke, a little bit hurt. He grabbed some stones and started to throw them, helped by Pieck. The gloomy woman was a little bit nervous. After all, not every time one got to fight two members of the Ackerman clan. "Focus, Pieck dear. If you don´t then they are going to kill you."

"Yes, sir" the female moved. The warchief now had the dangerous male Ackerman´s full attention and Reiner got the female. The time came to throw Bertoldt, as they need to capture Eren. Unfortunately, the tallest shifter got a little distracted when he saw his friend at the gates of death and that was all the blond strategist needed. After a short fight, when the warriors were winning, he devised a plan, a suicidal plan that would suit more Eren than himself, but a good one.

"Eren, do you trust me?" Armin gripped his blades, accepting internally that defeating Bertoldt was more important than his own life. The Titan nodded and did exactly as his friend told him, creating a figure of himself out of hardened skin. The Colossal Titan took the bait and attacked the other shifter, only to find out he had been deceived. "Got you" Eren and Armin got made their move. Before jumping to his death, the blond commented… "I´m expendable, you aren´t. Goodbye, my friend."

"Armin…" after they defeated Bertoldt, Eren got out of his Titan completely out of stamina, just wanting to run to his friend. Then, nearly by accident, he caught a glimpse of the commander running to his death along with his new comrades and Levi cutting his way through a line of Titans to catch the monkey. He threw some rocks, but stopped himself and turned… no, it was too soon… "Levi… Levi… Sorry, Armin" he bit his hand and started running towards the battlefield, suddenly full of energy and yelling the name of the captain. It was changed in the middle of the word. "ROARRRRR!"

"What…?" the roar near him was enough to divert Zeke´s attention the minute it took Levi to get to the place. "Levi… you surely are a monster" he thought while he was being slashed to his bare head and torso. He tried to stay inside the Titan, but Eren pushed the body down and allowed the other to be cut out. "Ugggg…"

"Stay completely still or I will cut your goddam throat" he warned, putting his blades in the other´s throat. For a second, the eldest Jeager´s eyes landed on the ring on his finger, the Eldian star clearly in it. "You are going to answer a few questions."

"Captain…" Eren got out of the Attack on Titan, completely depleted of energy and bleeding through the nose. "Are you alright, captain?"

"Oi, brat, why are you out of your damn…" there was sudden movement and the Ackerman moved at top speed to dodge the attacker and get Eren out it´s way. Pieck, who charged to the rescue, grunted at the loss of the opportunity to capture the Founding Titan, but, after assessing the state her comrades were in, decided it was time to do a quick retreat. She started to flee, only to be followed by the two of them. She managed to seize Reiner, but when she was about to grab Bertoldt…

"Get a centimetre near and I will kill him!" the youngest Jeager put a blade on the Colossal Titan´s throat, nearly slicing it. She grunted and got back. Hoover will have to see for himself.

"Wait" Zeke stopped her, a risky move. "Eren? You are… Eren Jeager?" even with his anger, the brunette couldn´t help but notice the resemblance this man shared with his father, Grisha. "You are him, no?"

"War chief…" the Ackerman was also close, preparing to deal a fatal blow. Before he could do, Pieck moved to retire.

"Yes, we are leaving now. They won this battle" he officially surrendered, still regenerating his limbs. "Eren, don´t forget this. I don´t blame you for this, you were brainwashed by your father" the youngster didn´t move, pressing the blade to Bertoldt´s throat. "Remember… I will come back for you, I will save you from your father."

"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked. "And where did you know my father?"

"I will come back for you" was the last they heard of the chimp shifter after he retreated outside Wall Maria. Eren let go of the other shifter, who was unconscious. Levi also lowered his blades, tired for the effort made.

"Captain, we have to safe Armin, he is…" they were again near the place his friend sacrificed his life to defeat the Colossal Titan. Mikasa and the others also arrived, assessing the state Armin was in. "He helped me to defeat Bertoldt, but… but he got caught by the fog and burned like…"

"I see"

"Captain, you have to give him the injection" Mikasa pleaded, lowering to the ground in shock. She was determined, Armin was getting the shot, even if she had to fight the older Ackerman.

"I will" he decided, as no one else was hurt beyond hope and they have to take full control of the shifter power asap in case the Cart Titan, which he was sure the fourth fiend was, returned surprisingly. He lowered down, grabbing his bag.

"WAIT!" Floch arrived at the moment, with Erwin Smith in his back. "THE COMMANDER IS STILL ALIVE! HE NEEDS THE INJECTION MORE!"

"What…" Eren started.

"Floch, don´t run like that!" Marlowe appeared in that second, pale as death and dragging a shell shocked girl behind him. Obviously they survived the suicidal charge with Erwin Smith and were now regrouping. "Try to use your training some more, you idiot. That´s no way to transport an injured man!"

"Sorry for not adhering to the rules, but it was an emergency!" the man screamed, lowering him down. He proceeded to fight with Eren and Mikasa, confusing Levi and wasting precious time. Hange, a little bit gloomy at the death of her assistant and nearly all of her friends, lowered down and checked the pulse.

"Guys, it´s not use" she said. "Commander is dead, I find no pulse"

"What…" they all lowered their heads. The commander was their idol, the brilliant military leader that was going to lead them into a new era… and now he was dead. It was hard blow for all of them. Flock, among them, also had a consternated look. Now he remembered why Marlowe tried to stop him… maybe his way of transporting the injured commander was the cause of his death.

"I… I made this… I…"

"Floch, you only tried to help, don´t beat yourself over that" the former MP tried to comfort him despite his attitude before. Then he looked at Eren. "You saved our lives. The others died, but… thanks to you appearing the commander had more time to order a last move and save us three" he signalled. "I don´t know what happened to the monkey, we woke up in the floor and they…"

"Escaped, them and Reiner" the shifter sighed, not really enjoying his victory. "Wall Maria was retaken and the mission now is to find the basement… and a way to clean this territory of Titans."

"Yes, yes… we can continue with this later" the now commander Hange signalled, grabbing her superior´s dead body to place out of reach. Levi inserted the syringe in the nearly dead Armin´s arm.

"Okay, brats, I´m doing it" He waited until they all realised that it was time to move. A new titan was going to be born and he was going to be hungry. "Ready to jump!"

"Yes, sir!" he applied the contents of the thing, jumping. A second later, a blond Titan rose, almost immediately eating a screaming Bertoldt. More steam was released, dispersing to reveal Armin without the terrible burns, unconscious. Mikasa went to him, checking for injuries.

"I think he still has cracked ribs" she announced. Hange proceed to bandage him and Sasha, leaving them in the care of the younger soldiers. Mikasa accompanied her and the corporal in their patrol. "Are there more titans coming?"

"Hope no, we are in no state to fight" answered the scientist. "That girl and Floch are shell shocked, Marlowe is almost as bad as them. Armin and Sasha are out of the game and Eren is out of juice. The others are no better… we have the losing cards."

"Don´t worry, four eyes, we can take care of it" the male Ackerman answered, biting his lips. "now… where the hell is that basement?"

-Time later-

"Hummmmmm" Armin opened his eyes only to receive the news that he was the new Colossal Titan. The news sent him into a catatonic fit, which he was promptly talked out of. Realising that he was now along with Eren the best hope of humanity was a hard pill to swallow, but he took it with more grace than was expected of him.

"Now let´s find that basement before something else happens" ordered Levi.

"Yes, sir" Mikasa and Eren, who were now in full energy again, tried to find their way through the destroyed neighbourhood of their childhood, searching for home. They finally found the house, the stone that crushed it… they remembered that day when they found their mother trapped and then saw her die. They reached the door of the basement, relieved that water didn´t ruin the interior.

"Okay, open the door, brat" Eren put the key in the hole and, surprisingly, it didn't fit. Levi pushed him back before destroying the door with a kick. They entered the room, only to find out a normal room for a medic. The Survey Corps looks around, finding a stone. Hange recognized it in a second.

"This is hardened titan skin" she said. "It was hidden in the table."

"Eren, there is a keyhole in the table" Mikasa informed. The young Jeager put the key in it´s place and opened a secret cabinet. It was empty… no, there was a false fond. They removed it and found some books.

"What the hell is this?" Eren opened one and found a drawing of a family… wait, this was not a drawing, it was too perfect. And was that Grisha? What was he doing with this people? The child was somehow familiar too…

"There is a writing in the back" Levi said, grabbing the first book and opening it. There was an old page of a book with some drawings, folded in four. He unfolded it and found a map, a map of the outside world. And it was so big… "There is a circle in ink signalled this big island" he pointed. "And those… I think they are the Walls" he lowered it, placing it on the table. "They call it Paravis"

"Paravis… we live in Paravis" Hange commented, almost catatonic. "What´s written on the drawing?"

"That… this is not a drawing, that this is something called a photo" he scrunched up his lips. "Some trick of the light to catch the image of things… I don´t understand it completely. Perhaps we should try the book."

"Yes" Levi pushed the book on his hands. "Start reading"

-Later in the night-

"…He preferred the safety with his grandparents…" Levi continued to read to the cadets… well, not cadets anymore, they were surely going to get ascended now that the corps was reduced to eleven survivors. He finished reading and closed the book, looking at the incredulous look on the face of the brats. "Oi, close your mouths. Flies might get in."

"Flies are the least of our problems" Marlowe finally managed to talk. "Humans outside the walls? People getting turned into Titans? An entire world that wanted us dead? This seemed a nightmare made true."

"That makes it none the least truth" he showed a drawing in the book and his ring. The same nine pointed star… the Eldian star, symbol of their people. "Dammit, between all the things that could have convinced Uri-san of keeping that damn vow… and now they have made the first movement of the war."

"The war… against the rest of mankind" Floch was letting his anger get the best of him. "Damn bastards! All of them! Why?!" he started cursing the whole unknown world, in an Eren style. "I will kill them… I will kill them all! I will show them what we can do! And then…"

"Calm the fuck down, you are making no one a favour by losing your shit" the Ackerman ordered. The youngster sat down, grunting like an idiot. "If we are going to win this war, we need to keep our heads cool, alright?" he breathed in, giving one last thought to his adoptive father. "Let´s just thank that we were getting prepared beforehand" he moved a bit. "Get prepared, we are leaving at first light. Titans in Shiganshina can be dealt with later, when we replenish our supplies."

"Captain?" the low voice of Sandra Monford caught his attention. It was the first time she talked since the suicide charge, possibly a good sign. "What… are we going to do with that? We don´t… eh…."

"The destiny of this information is in the hands of the Queen and the military command. Let´s just hope that they didn´t decide to bury it" he sighed. "Well, that option is not really an option anymore" he looked at his ring with a thoughtful expression. The Eldian star shined in the darkness. "Not with… Marley declaring war to us."

"Marley…" Eren whispered. Armin and Mikasa were at his side, thinking about that too. The girl then announced that she was taking the first shift and told them to sleep big sister´s style. Both shifters laid down and slept. The Jeager soon was engulfed in a nightmare about his father´s past while Armin was swarmed by memories of Bertoldt. His father, sick and old, Annie´s father and the promise he made to bring her back, Reiner´s mother embracing both of them…

"Armin?" Mikasa shook him awake, gently. He opened his eyes, not rested at all. "It´s your turn to watch for Titans" she lowered her gaze to Eren, who was sweating hard. "After you finish please wake Eren up."

"Okay" he breathed in and got up. Meanwhile, the other shifter was not only having dreams of his father, but of the previous two owners of the Founding Titan. Frieda´s desperation at her inability of really helping her people, knowing that just hiding like Karl Fritz wanted was not the answer but not having the strength to do more than hide Uri´s preparation. Uri´s decision and determination to fight, to break the vow of Karl Fritz, fuelled by his desire to protect Levi and Kenny. Sometime later he was woken up by Armin. "Your turn"

"Okay" he went to his post, finding the captain awake and in place. "Ahhhh, captain, why are you not sleeping? You were guarding with Mikasa…"

"I couldn´t sleep and sent the Marlowe brat to sleep" he informed. "There was too much in my head. Uri-san tried to prepare us for war, but… there is so much to do, so much to know… it´s almost overwhelming."

"And frightening" Eren continued, then looked at the older soldier. "You know… I just had a dream about the king… the one that raised you. He prepared for war because he wanted to protect you and your uncle… not that you need protection, it´s just that…"

"I understand" he sighed. "I understand you and Uri-san. A war… event the best can fall in that situation and he wanted to give us all the assets to survive. But you are underestimating him, he was also thinking of his people."

"Yes, but… you two gave him the strength to defy Karl Fritz and prepare Eldia for war" Eren continued staring at him. "And just in time, I can say, because they attacked us and…"

"I get it, Uri-san was thinking of us" he lowered his head. Morning was about to come and with it the titans. They still had a few more ours of light and had to save the remaining cannisters, but it was better if they prepared now. "Go get your 3DM gear, we are going to need it really soon."

"Yes, sir" the teen answered, running towards the pile of supplies.

-Back in Wall Rose-

"That surely was a great adventure" commented Hange as they arrived to Wall Rose, receiving the cheers and screams of joy from the citizens after learning of the Wall Maria reclaiming. "Levi, we should go straight to Zackley and present him with the books. He, Pixis and Dokk need to know this."

"Wait a moment" he went straight to Armin and Eren. "Listen up, you two brats. If we are going to wage war against something else than the Titans, we are going to need weapons. You are the only ones that could possibly provide us with them" they were dumbfounded. "Eren, you are prompt to inherit house Innocencio. It has refineries and engineers that could make your grandmother´s designs reality. And you" he turned to Armin. "you have too. If both of you invest in the weaponry business…"

"We can get Eldia armed and ready to beat Marley" realised the blond. "But Eren´s uncle still controls the company and I barely have hold of the business… besides we also have to act as soldiers and probably go in more mission to do recognizing…."

"I don´t care how you do it, just… get those places to work on weapons or we are all dead, okay?" he let go of the two, walking towards the serious Hange. "I´m going, four eyes, don´t go without me"

"Don´t worry, I won´t" the scientist just handed the traumatised Sandra to an officer of the Garrison, who would take her to the nearest hospital. It was a little bit worrying how bad she was, even after days of not seeing titans. She turned around one last time to see Floch being hugged to death by his mother, who was waiting for him at the foot of the walls, and Marlowe being hit by an enraged Hitch. "Come on, we have to inform Darius Zackley… oh, and you probably want to stop first to inform your cousin of the success."

"Historia probably already knows that we succeed" he answered, walking in with the new commander inside of the palace. There, Zackley, Dokk and Pixis were waiting for the inform.

"Squad leader Hange and corporal Levi" he nodded. "Where is Erwin Smith?" they didn´t answer and they all knew it, lowering their heads a bit. "I see" he sighed, rubbing his eyes. "At least his sacrifice was not in vain. We heard the cheers from here, the people are crying of joy at the retaken of Wall Maria" he clapped one time. "Bravo, Erwin Smith, a true commander and soldier." Then he made the military salute, followed by the others. "A hero never to be forgotten."

"Never" they all sat down.

"Now, back to the topic… before we can be able to cry Erwin like we all want, we all have to talk about your findings in the Shiganshina district. Did you reach the basement?"

"Yes, we did" Levi fished the photo from his bag, putting it in front of the military leaders. "We found out Grisha Jeager was indeed a human that came from outside the Walls. He apparently came shortly after gaining his shifter abilities, running from a threat we weren´t aware it existed but they were aware of us."

"Continue"

"We only read one of these books" Hange put the books in front of them. "We read them while we were coming, so the other survivors of the mission are aware of the danger. It turns out…" she breathed in, savouring the last seconds of normality and saying goodbye to the world as she knew it. "the titans are not our enemies, they are our security system" the men´s eyes opened so wide they looked like toads. "Karl Fritz, the first king, devised a security system made of giant man eating weapons to protect our people from their enemies of the outside world."

"Then… if the titans are such amazing weapons that protect us from another enemy… much like a last resort from a desperate man… who is our real enemy?"

"The world" she answered. "the books explained it in detail, but from what I have understood, we are the people of Eldia, capable of turning into titans when injected a certain serum. None other race in the world had such a power. The world hates us for such an amazing power and wanted to destroy us... the Titans were created by the Eldians, beginning with their first great queen, Ymir Fritz…"

"Commander Hange" Zackley raised a hand. "Perhaps we should slow down" Hange was talking so quickly that they couldn´t process what she was saying. "Let´s begin with the image. What the hell it is?"

-In the afternoon-

"Well, that could be worse" the female commander smiled. Zackley and his friends decided to held a great meeting after they read the damn books to decide the route the military was going to take from now on. Perhaps he also did it so both Dokk and Pixis could get some nerve, because they were looking as pale as ghosts.

"If you mean that they could have started punching walls, I am completely…"

"Cousin Levi!" Historia ran towards him when they were about to leave the palace. He turned around to find his little adoptive cousin running towards him. for a second he swore she was Frieda, but when she impacted he noticed it was Historia. "I thought you were among the losses when you didn´t came to me" he hugged her awkwardly. "Where were you?"

"Trapped with me in a meeting with commander in chief, your majesty" answered Hange, smiling. "As my new second in command and possible successor, he has to be with me in this kind of meetings."

"Possible successor? But… but commander Erwin…" she noticed the dark looks. "Ohhh… I´m sorry, I know you two held him in high esteem. Me too" she lowered her gaze too. "It´s unbelievable, how could he die?" she cleaned her eyes before they could see the tears in them. A queen must never be seen crying in public, she had to appear strong for her subjects. "Do… do you want to talk about it?" she offered. "Eren taught me that it´s better to let it out than…"

"No, for the moment no" Levi answered.

"Then… can you stay in the palace this night?" the young queen asked. "I´m sad for commander Erwin´s dead too and I´m sure you have something you want to talk about. So, what do you say?"

"Sure, I can stay tonight" Levi patted her head. Probably tomorrow he was going to be able to herd the brats towards his house and made them clean it. Specially Eren, as he was the best cleaner in the whole unit. "Tomorrow I will return home… if Zackley doesn´t demand an explanation on what we found in the basement" he let the blond teen direct him towards a dinning room where they could dine in peace. "That dress… it´s Frieda´s?"

"Oh, yes" the cadet said, signalling the odd fitting dress she was dressed in. "A day after you left I found a dresser full of nee-chan´s gowns and I thought that I could wear some. At first I thought that they would fit me okay, but the bodices are too big for me and the skirts are a little big. I was thinking I could fit them, but it´s difficult."

"Well, you can always hire a seamstress for the work" he signalled. The servants entered in that moment to serve them their dinner, which Levi hungrily ate. Hey, after days of dried rations this was heaven, so excuse him for eating a little quickly.

"So… what was so urgent that you went straight to commander in chief Zackley and not me?" she asked, surprising him. "I know it isn't the commander´s death, something else must have happened in the recovering of Shiganshina."

"You progress each day, you know that?" she smiled genuinely. "Yes, something happened. First, we managed to snatch the Colossal Titan from Bertoldt" the queen felt a little bit crossed. She was glad they had an enemy less, but Bertoldt has been her friend, so she couldn´t help but feel sad about him passing. "Armin Arlet is now in hold of the Titan."

"Armin…" she couldn´t imagine her smart friend as a Titan. "And what else?" she continue to question. "Did something else happened?"

"Yes, it did… but I can´t talk about this here" he grabbed a cup of wine after a servant poured the red liquid in his cup. The second plate was put in front of them, which they ate in complete silence. After the dessert they retired with cups of tea to a private salon, where the queen shooed her service. "You better sit down" they sat down in a couch, one next to the other. He didn´t know how to start the difficult conversation, so he did it Uri style. "Historia, I have something to tell you"

What is going to happen? All hell is breaking loose, like in the manga. And the next move? To know the enemy you have to get to their territory, don´t you think? Review!


	10. Chapter 10

Eren and the others were back in the headquarters for the night after the celebration in the streets… which continued until the night. People were already making plans to reassume the business the Titans interrupted when they invaded Shiganshina, specially the farming ones, and moving there. Newspapers were being imprinted with drawings of the scouting Legion when they appeared on top of Wall Rose, returning victorious from conquest. Jean pounded on a bathroom´s door.

"Connie! Get out of there, you midget! You have been there for an hour!" the horse faced teen continued to pound. Behind him in the line were Eren, Armin and Floch, all of them with a sour mood. "I don´t know why he tries so much. His mother´s still a titan, for god´s sake" he kept his voice down so Springer won´t hear him. "she won´t care if he smells good or bad."

"And we all need showers" the new transfer smelled himself. He reeked, that was true. "You know, forget it. I´m spending the night with my family, so I´m asking mom to lend me the shower before we go out."

"Are you going out with your parents, Floch?" Marlowe, already showered and refreshed thanks to his speed at putting himself next in line after the girls, commented from a chair in the middle of the stance. Sasha, dressed in her skirt and blouse, peeked from over her pre dinner.

"Yeah, mom was so glad I came back alive and not shell shocked like Sandra that decided to hold a family dinner at my favourite restaurant" he informed, satisfied with himself. "We are going to have pasta and meat" he made Sasha salivate a bit. "Why, Freudenberg? Do you want to join?"

"Nah, thank you, I´m spending the night with Hitch and my pals from the MP" he informed. "Tomorrow we are free too, then I´m going to see the family… after I got over the hangover that woman is surely going to inflict upon me" he laughed a bit, trying to keep the light atmosphere that settled in the headquarters despite the knowledge they all shared now. "And you, Blouse? What are you going to do with your free time?"

"Pops told me that if I returned alive from the recovering of Wall Maria, he and I were going to go to a hunting trip for as long as I had leave and then roast all the meat, no matter if winter is approaching and… and…" she salivated some more, dreaming of meat, like always. She was hurt, yes, but that won´t stop her.

"Sure you can handle it? The doctor said you should take it easy, you were badly wounded"

"Of course I can! I´m a hunter!"

"I see, you are going to fill yourself up with meat" Floch just rolled his eyes and the others sweat dropped. "And you, Kirstein? What are you going to do now that you returned alive from a suicide mission?"

"I´m going to see my mother in Trost" he said. "She apparently wanted to show her now hero son to all the neighbours and then offer me dinner… in that specific order."

"Then why don´t you shower home?"

"Because my mother told me when we met on the street and she finished crying in joy at my coming home that she won´t accept me home with that smell" he gulped. "And she is capable of fulfilling that comment, hero or not."

"Well, let´s hope Connie doesn´t…"

"Hi, guys! Hell, that was some shower" Jean quickly ran into the bathroom when Springer finally got out, slamming the door shut in his back. "what the hell is happening to him?"

"His mother won´t feed him if he doesn´t smell like roses when he goes home" Floch explained and turned around. "Anyway, we were talking about what were we going to do with our free time, now that we have some days of leave…"

"Oh, well… I´m going to visit my mother" Connie, as they all expected, confessed that. "I´m bringing her some sweets… and probably will eat them myself, but she always enjoyed when we shared sweets in family…"

"Ahhhhhh, Connie" Springer didn´t hear and ran out of the room, crying a bit. Yes, they recovered Shiganshina and beat the monkey guy, but his mother was still in that state and he was hurting because he couldn´t help her. The slam on his door shook them a bit, but Marlowe continued talking. "Well… that was uncomfortable" he commented. "Ehhhhh… hey, we haven´t asked the wonder trio" he signalled Mikasa, Armin and Eren, who were always together. "What are you going to do?"

"We are going to visit Eren´s uncle" the girl answered, looking at her adoptive younger brothers. "He promised we will do so as soon as we returned"

"Hum, apparently everybody is going to see family" the former MP looked through the window and cursed. "Guys, it´s late, I should have met Hitch as soon as dusk started to fall and… I´m sorry, I have to leave."

"Have fun, Marlowe, you surely need it" they said goodbye and started to walk towards a pub usually frequented by the MP. There he noticed Hitch and his old gang, minus Annie. He entered and greeted them, who answered lifting their cups and making a cheer for him.

"You took your sweet time, no, idiot?" Hitch, obviously a little drunk, took a long sip from her alcohol. "Next time we won´t invite you. Be grateful that you are the excuse to reunite here and drink some beer" she drowned her cup. "The fucking hero of the day, the suicidal fool that transferred to the Survey Corps… with you… Marlowe Freudenberg!"

"Thank you, Hitch, thank you" he sat down next to her, being given his own booze. "Hey, this is a party, no? Let´s forget all the problems and drink some more!"

"Wooow, Marlowe what did that trip to you? You usually are telling us not to drink because of the hangover" the woman commented, putting her cup on the table.

"Well, there are some times you need to get completely hammered, so just enjoy and let me enjoy" he drank his cup in one gulp, something that should be impossible. He immediately felt light headed. Ohhhhh, much better. Now he didn´t remember the books and… no, there they are. He needed more alcohol to forget.

"Why are you suddenly wanting to get drunk, eh?" she continued pressing, suddenly more than sober. She could sense that her friend was not feeling good, that there was something that was killing him and she wanted to help him. "What? Did you see some ugly Titan and ran? We are not going to laugh, we all are afraid of…"

"No, that didn´t happened. I was part of a suicidal charge against a monkey Titan and lived"

"Then what? Are you depressed because someone died? I heard commander Erwin died, but nothing more" she looked at him with worry. "I am your friend, you can tell me, as you can anyone here. Nobody in this table is going to judge you. In fact, we admire you because you were the only one to surpass that fear for the Titans while we stayed here like cowards and just let the…"

"I am not afraid of Titans! Don´t even dare to speak of something you didn´t know!" he exploded. "Do you want to know what I´m afraid of?! I´m afraid of what´s out there, past the Titans and everything we ever knew! And we didn´t knew!" he drank again a full cup and put it on the table with a slam. "Sorry for screaming at you, I didn´t mean…"

"What… do you mean with what´s out there?" she questioned him, feeling a little scared herself. Their companions, also shocked by his sudden blow of esteem, were just silently eyeing them.

"Let´s just say that we found Eren´s basement, the one that apparently held all the answers about the outer world… well, apparently it did. And what a surprise it was, finding out that doctor Jeager was born outside the walls and that he escaped for some reason…"

"Escaped? What?" Hitch wanted to press for some answers. "What the hell was in that basement? What did doctor Jeager hid? Are there more human beings outside the walls? Or are they like Eren and his father…"

"Oh, you will know soon enough. Commander Dokk is surely bidding his time to tell you after commander Hange and corporal Levi gave him and Zackley what they found in the basement. I would bet a hundredth dollars that soon enough you are going to know exactly what I´m talking about… nahhhhh, I won´t spoil his fun."

"Marlowe, tell me what the hell you are talking about now" Hitch demanded. She has been his partner since a lot time ago, for fuck´s sake, if anyone deserved an explanation it was her.

"They… told me not to do it…" he sang and started to drink, getting more and more drunk to forget what was about to come, what they would have to do, what they, a tiny spot in the world, were going to be pushed to do. All for the sake of surviving. "Hitch, if a man were to come up to you and ask you to marry him that moment, would you accept?"

"EHHHHHHHHHHHH?!" now she was alarmed.

"Just kidding" he said and continued with his compulsive drinking. God, how much he wanted to just forget all of this problem. To fake that everything didn´t exist, as Karl Fritz did, to return to normal, to marry Hitch and lead a completely normal life. But now, the world wasn´t as they imagined and it was time to wake up from the dream. They had to win the right to live… but before that, he was going to walk up to Hitch and demand to marry her. Who said someone couldn´t marry in a war? "For you I will win this war"

That was what he said, but he could never guess that those same words were being uttered by his teammates of the Survey Corps. By Jean in the middle of his family dinner, when he saw the happiness of his people and the smile so weird of pride on his mother. By Connie while he ate sweets next to his titanized mother, promising her revenge, trying not to cry at the horrible state she was currently in. By Sasha while her father convinced her to stay in bed despite her eagerness to hunt, giving her a smile and a proud word, telling her that they will hunt together later. By Floch, clutching his fists in rage in the middle of their family dinner, promising to gain the right to live and restore the Eldian empire so the world would never underestimate eldians again. By Hange, while she cried in front of photos of her and Moblit, a cup of ale in her hands for the fallen. By Levi, who stayed awake all the night with Historia, both of them promising to be strong for all Eldia as the royal family should be. By Sandra, while she was in the arms of her mother, crying and promising never to be a coward again. And finally, by Eren, Mikasa and Armin, after Javi went to sleep, looking at each other. The shifters were conscious that they don´t have much time left, one eight years and the other thirteen, but that wouldn´t mean they weren´t going to fight.

"Time to regain our right to exist" said Eren and everybody couldn´t agree more with him.

-In an office-

"Dammit, dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!" Nike Dokk punched a wall while Pixis took another swig from his liquor. The three commanders have been awake all night, reading the damn books and trying to find some sense in the fucked out world they were introducing them. "Why? Why are we the only people that needs a fucking herd of man eating monsters to be left to live? Why are the others attacking us? We are just… just humans…"

"I guess for the same reason we feared the Titans… we have power" Zackley commented calmly. It was taking him a lot of effort to keep his temper on check after reading the whole three books and finding out exactly who the true enemies were. He sighed, remembering something. "One cannot go against the world…"

"Well, we surely will try! I´m not letting those assholes touch Marie and my children!" the MP commander sat down again, still feeling like strangling someone. "For fuck´s sake, I´m almost wishing that dream Karl Fritz trapped us in have never ended."

"No, Nile, it was for the best" the commander in chief lighted a smoke. "We learned just in time about the existence of the outside world. A few years later and we would have been as dead as the people that once lived in Wall Maria. Is that what you wanted for your family? To die because of a stupid Utophy?" the MP commander lowered his gaze "That´s what I thought. Now get yourself together and start planning. It´s time to fight."

"Yes" Pixis finished with his wine. "We are giving those Marleyan idiots a fight they will never forget"

"You surprise me, Pixis" the black haired man sat down, grabbing the closest book. "It´s something Erwin Smith would have said."

"Well, not in vain the man and I were good friends, Nile" he closed his own book. "That said… we are in terrible disadvantage" he stretched. "The technology of the outside world greatly surpasses ours and their knowledge of our military is great thanks to the former cadet Reiner Braun." He sighed, looking through the window Dokk was about to break. "How are we going to explain this to the people?"

"First we have to think about a way to tell this to her majesty" the younger commander opened his eyes a bit. Of course, Historia has to be informed of everything. And then there was going to be a martial court to decide what to do in front of her and…

"I don´t think we have to worry about that. Corporal Levi never left the castle, so I guess he stayed with her and already told her everything" the leader of all the forces walked towards the window too, staring at the only other room with lights on. "Now, after all that… interesting reading" he went back to business quickly. "we need to form a plan. The survey corps are nearly extinguished, but the Garrison and the MP are still active. Gentlemen, I want to hear propositions about what to do next."

"Tactically talking, we need to clear Wall Maria as soon as possible" stated the oldest man, rubbing his chin. "Then… we need to send some people to the main land, but we can´t do that without…"

"You don´t need to say the obvious" Nile Dokk sighed, trying to keep himself still and not freak out again. "We have to plan this carefully…"

"Unfortunately, we don´t have time to plan this carefully. In fact, YOU have no time" Levi entered in that moment with his completely exhausted adoptive cousin. Historia had rings around her eyes, as well as Ackerman, who appeared to be an insomniac. "Any second… any seconds can be the last for our nation. Marley can attack and will attack soon and… my military advisors don´t have plans?"

"Your majesty…" Nile was about to put an excuse, but Zackley raised a hand. Yes, this situation was not what they were accustomed to, but the queen was right. They don´t have time for planning nor losing. "My queen, the Survey Corps are not in their full capacity, so the MP will take care of…"

"I want Shiganshina cleared of Titans by tomorrow afternoon. I don´t care that your men are hungover after partying all day or their numbers, we have to start reactivating economy" she turned then to Pixis. "You, I want plans to put garrison posts and troops in the seashore, preliminary ones, but ready for when the Legion gets out of the Walls again. And from both of you, a list of soldiers strong enough to go with them."

"Right away, my queen" both men seemed to have snapped out of their pity party now that they have something to do. And their mental engines were spinning too, making plans. There was only one way to endure survival in this position: espionage. Somehow, they have to go to the continent and steal the weaponry and other things from their opponents to quickly develop until they were equals. Possible? Barely. Probably? NO.

"You surely are adapting to the situation better than I could have hoped, my queen" Zackley broke the silence, getting up from his comfortable place. "I would applaud you, but as you said, we don´t have time to lose" he grabbed the three books. "I´m convoking that reunion as soon as possible, to put all the forces into alert." He bowed before leaving. "You will also be present, so wait for the call."

"I don´t think I can wait" Historia practically collapsed on the ground. No one said being queen was going to be easy. In fact, she herself knew it was difficult before she succeeded her father. But, if being queen was difficult, being queen in war time was even more. So much that a king forced her people and family to renounce their freedom to avoid it. And now, for the first time in a century, her country was at war. And she, Historia Reiss, was the first Queen in the Walls to go to war. "This is a nightmare"

"More than a nightmare, it´s a reality" Levi said before helping her up. "For now, you should go to sleep. No one can think rationally after a sleepless night" she shook her head, feeling her eyes closing. There was a lot to do and she need to prepare a speech and the preparations of the troops... "Go to sleep. I will do some research."

"You deserved to rest after the last mission…"

"I will rest after the marleyans are dust in the wind" they stared at each other for a moment, silently fighting. After that, they both agreed to take a rest and then think about what they should do. The Ackerman returned to his mansion, laying on his bed after briefly noticing that the house´s state worsened in his absence. He should really think in hiring a maid with his now enormous fortune, so the place wouldn´t become a damn mess every time he get out. Well… if one could stood his clean freakiness. Before he could notice, he was asleep. Next thing he knew, there was a banging on his door. "Yes?"

"Your highness?" a nervous soldier from the MP bowed before him before handing him a letter with Zackley´s seal. He opened it and read the first few lines. It was a summon. Woow, he surely was quick. "We… ummmm… we have another problem… ehhhh… this man got in and tried to…"

"I told you that if you want to live, take me with you, midget" Kenny get out of the carriage they have come in. "Hello, Levi, long time no see" his uncle walked into the house as if it was his. "See you are keeping things like Uri wanted them… this place is spotless."

"I beg to differ, uncle" Levi turned to him before reassuring the nervous soldiers that he will deal with the lunatic now. "What are you doing here? I thought the MP was going to be trapped cleaning the Shiganshina district today."

"Bahhh, we are doing it in turns. After all, someone has to patrol the city… and somehow that brat the MP call their commander got the Garrison brats to help while their elders are in a room trying to do whatever they do in their bubble" he sat down before his nephew could say anything. He then drank a bit of rum from a bottle he brought himself. "Well, I can´t stay for long, my turn will start again soon. By the way, Levi… Dokk told us something very weird this morning and I want to state the facts" they stared at each other. "Is it true?"

"What did he said?" the younger asked. He already knew that it was the truth of the outer world, but he wanted to be sure. Kenny just stayed in silence. "Don´t need details, just to tell me if it has any relationship to the basement or what was inside of it."

"Tell me, Levi"

"First I want to know what happened, what did that idiot say?" the other grunted, wanting more rum. After a quick trip to the kitchen and the cellar to bring themselves tea and liquor, the two Ackermans began to talk.

-A few hours before-

"What´s happening here?" asked a hungover Hitch, forming while nursing a coffee cup on her hands. After their talk with Marlowe in the bar, they have all drank a lot more than they first thought and ended up with the worst headache in history. She drank her coffee in one go, looking through the corner of her eye at a group of people that was suspiciously clad in black gabardines over their uniforms. "Is that the anti personel squad? What are they doing here?"

"I guess they were called, like us" another member of her squad, looking at nearly all the MP reunited in the room. Nile Dokk entered in that moment with his extremely pale lieutenants and a bunch of papers in his hands. And the first thing that he told them was that it was their duty along with the Garrison´s to clean the Shiganshina district, so everybody that was no on patrol was going to be…

"No fair!" there was screaming. They haven´t asked for this kind of task. Besides, it was the Survey Corps idea to recover Wall Maria, they should do the cleaning. Then their drunk heads remembered that the Legion was practically decimated and won´t be able to fight for some months, until the new batch of recruits graduated. Then Nile threw his bomb.

"I don´t care what you think about this, the situation has change so much you can´t imagine. We are at war" the commander finally said. "When have we even ceased to be at war with the Titans? I suppose you all would ask. Well… we are not at war with them anymore! We are at war with all the world!" all of them were spooked silent. "The Survey Corps discovered that we are not alone in the World. In fact, Grisha Jeager, Reiner Braun, Annie Leonhardt and Bertholdt Hoover were from there."

"But… but if there are some… some people outside the walls… then… then…"

"One would think so, no?" Nile continued. "Well, I´m informing you now that that isn´t the case. It happens that we, people inside the walls, descend from a race so disgusting for the outside world that we needed an army of man eating monsters for them to leave us live" they were all completely dumbfounded, even in denial. How could that happen? "I don´t know how to explain this… But I guess you are going to find out anyway, so I´m telling you this. The Titans have been our shield for a century, now we have to be our own shield. And this will initiate with eradicating Shiganshina´s Titan and opening a way for the Legion to reach the sea. Then… we still have to figure it out."

"Are… are you being serious?" someone asked, but the silence that followed that question was all the answer that was needed. After that all of them were taken to Wall Rose, from where they jumped. Hitch couldn´t believe it… but at the same time she could. All Marlowe said after returning from Wall Maria… that made sense now. It brought tears to her eyes. And rage. A rage she never knew was possible to have contained. She screamed and started slashing the napes of the monsters in a way that would have made Erwin Smith proud. Until then, she didn´t think she was capable, but… but…

"Hitch! Control yourself!" one of her companions, that dated her once, suddenly walked towards her. Her fierce expression, unlike the smug and egocentric one she usually wore, completely took him aback. For her part, she was saying goodbye to the girl that only wanted to be an official to gain money until she catches someone to marry. She didn´t have a place in this world anymore. The one who had a place was the soldier in her. "What is wrong with you?"

"That… that I don´t want to die" yes, she didn´t want to die. Not without getting married and having children, preferably with Marlowe, and making sure her family was going to be able to live. Not without getting older seeing her children and grandchildren running around. "I don´t want to die bring worthless" she continued. "And I don´t want to see those beloved to me die" she breathed deep and exhaled. "That´s all"

"Hitch…"

"I know what you are going to say, that now we are confronting human beings instead of brainless monsters, but we can´t give ourselves the luxury of living in that dream of peace anymore, no?" she patted his shoulder. "Soldiers sometimes have to kill to achieve security of our people" with that, she jumped to the next rooftop, slashing a five meters before it ate someone. With the Titan Guillotine and them working together, the job was far easier and safe than before. She raised her head and then saw a bunch of figures talking in another rooftop, all of them in black gabardines. Gritting her teeth, she went to them. "Teach me"

"What?" Traute turned around, dumping her bloody swords to the ground. Next to her, Kenny looked bored… at least until he saw the expression in the girl´s face. That expression… not quite like the one Traute wore when he recruited her, but there was potential in there. Hatred usually makes good killers if they managed to get a grab of their emotions. And that girl was doing exactly that now.

"Teach me how to be like you" Hitch continued. "Everybody knows the central MP´s reputation of being elite killers for the king. The next war… this war is going to be against people, we need more personal like you" she walked towards them. "So… I´m asking for you to teach me… so I kill as many Marleyans as I can"

"Hear, you…"

"Easy, Traute" Kenny advanced, grinning like a maniac. "The girl has spirit, that´s all. And I can say" he advanced, eyeing Hitch too closely for her liking, making her uncomfortable. "Is that what you really want?" she nodded trembling, trying not to go back on his word after seeing the eccentricity of captain Ackerman. "Sure?"

"Captain…" the blond female got to the front, not knowing why her commanding officer was asking those questions. Their group was disbanded, no? At least it was the last time she heard.

"This morning, when that Dokk fucker pulled me apart, he gave me permission to restart the anti personel squad" he grinned at the shock in his subordinates. "And gave us permission to recruit between the MP soldiers and recruits" he looked at the girl. "Apparently, we are going to be needed in the fight against that Marley thing or something."

"It… actually makes a little bit of sense" the older woman approached, staring around her at the recruits for possible recruit material. She suddenly jumped and slashed a Titan who was about to put a young soldier in it´s mouth. The boy cried at her feet when she freed him… hum, he was definitely not her squad material. From afar, Kenny, Hitch and Djel were looking at her.

"Do you see the dear Traute? A member of our squad needs to kill humans like they kill a Titan. Do you think you can achieve that?" the Ackerman continued to scare her, but the girl only nodded. Yes, there was definitely potential. "Okay" the Ripper said. "Normally I would start your training immediately, but the fucker on top demanded to make everything clear, so… fill your transference paper or the shit you need and you are in."

"Thank you, sir" she bowed. Kenny, for his part, only jumped and started slashing the monsters Ackerman style. This was not the beginning he had in mind, but was better than anything. Not all the people were made to become assassins. And, in this uncertainty times, assassins were just what they needed.

"Are you sure, captain? To let her in?" his blond second in command appeared near him. "I know we need to recruit quickly, but that girl didn´t seem material for the squad."

"Oh, right now none of them are. In this moment, you can just talk about the potential" he surveyed his surroundings. "Many of them could have the skills, but that´s not the only thing needed for getting in, no, Traute?" the woman only stared at the Titan in front of them. "What do you think will happen to the best in a month´s time?"

"They will crush under the pressure and the half of those left probably won´t be able to do it the first time we ask them to kill. And even if they are able to do it, by the end of that week we will surely lose more of them, because part of being assassins is to pass your corpses as accidental deaths" she looked behind. "You think she will be able to do it?"

"Nothing is certain… but I see potential" Kenny jumped again, performing a twist and slashing five Titans in a row. "Look around yourself and tell me who else has that potential. I ordered Sanes the same" he released his blade and put another on. "We have a squad to rebuilt"

-End of the Flashback-

"So that was the first action they took" Levi drank a bit of his tea at the explanation. "I can´t say I disagree. We are in such a disadvantage that trained killers like your anti personell squad will be valuable assets in the war" he sighed. "But you too are right. No everybody can become an assassin. Like not many people can really become soldiers" he stared at him. "Are you sure that you are going to find good material?"

"Heh, nothing is impossible. At least I have hope in that girl I talked to you about, once she completely leaves her silly fantasies behind" he sighed. "And? What do you really have to say? Marley is real? Are they the enemy Uri wanted us to fight?"

"Yeah… or at least a part of it. Our real enemy is the rest of the world" the Ripper nodded, remembering the times when the king muttered something about the world coming to kill them. "Are you going to be a part of this war?"

"Of course I am" he pulled out a knife. "I had my opportunity to slash many throats here, I wouldn´t give the opportunity to make my fame international up for the world" his finger traces his favourite weapon. "Besides… Uri only ordered me to prepare for war, but I´m sure that there was a "fight it too" implicit in the order. He wouldn´t leave his people without a valuable military policeman like me."

"How funny you are" the older Ackerman finished his cup and walked to the door. He needed to leave now to catch his squad in the next turn. "By the way, Kenny, I found the letter you hid for Uri-san. It was surely helpful."

"Only the letter?" he raised an eyebrow. "Uri ordered me to hid two objects, not one. If you only found the letter, then the knowledge is incomplete." Levi was opening his mouth to ask where the hell the other thing was when he waved and walked away. "See you another time, midget. Hope you find it soon. Time is running out after all."

"You complete asshole" his nephew muttered between teeth, getting back into the house. Cursing Kenny and thinking that Uri should have just ordered the fucker to give Levi whatever he wanted to give him, the younger Ackerman started to search through the house. Whatever the object was, it shouldn´t have occupied much space or Kenny would have gotten it out of the house. He was just entering the library when he noticed something strange in a wall behind a portrait of… Karl Fritz? Yes, there was that name in the frame. He pulled the portrait aside and found a hole that was not there before he left the manor as a teen. He put his hand on the hole and… pulled out a book. And not any book. A leather covered book that should have been worth a fortune even for a noble. He opened the book and found the title written in Uri´s handwriting: The Book of the History of the World. He turned the page and saw a short message specially for him.

"My dear Levi, this book should have been written a long time ago, but none of the kings before me had the willpower to defy the vow of peace and write it. Hope the king or queen after me can do the same and realised that the time to keep that promise is over… or that the promise should have never be given. This is the history of our race, the Eldians, the ones that can turn into Titans. The history of Ymir, of her daughters, the namesakes of the Walls, of the Fritz family that later would become the Reiss family, of the clan wars, of Karl Fritz, the last king of Eldia and the First in the Walls… and also of Hellos and Winston Tybur, the traitor along with my ancestor Karl. And please realise that after you open this book, there is no way back."

"Well, here goes nothing" he passed the page and started reading. The book was decorated with images made by the king himself and spots of ink and half ripped papers, probably from when Karl Fritz´s will win over Uri´s. And then… the revelation. He grabbed the book and dashed back to the city. He needed to tell Historia and the Military about Karl Fritz´s great idea of selling his Kingdom to the Marleyan hero Hellos and the Eldian nobleman Winston Tybur.

-In the MP Headquarters-

"Are you sure of what you are doing?" asked Marlowe, who was visiting his friends to apologize for his behaviour last night, only to hear that Hicks was getting translated from the patrolling squad per her request. "Hicks…"

"I made up my mind, don´t try to dissuade me" she was sewing her name in her new uniform. It was surprising how quickly things could move in times of war, her translate was ready when she came back from the cleaning of Shiganshina. "Marlowe, you already made enough for now, leave me do the same."

"But the anti personell squad…"

"Marlowe, you once said that you wanted to clean the MP from corruption, no?" he lost his speech. "And once we helped to do it… more like you forced me to help you do it, you changed military forces to do what you thought correct" he stayed completely silent. "You found out that… corruption was not the only thing we needed to clean from this world. And now we find this, getting thrown into a war we didn´t know about" she grabbed his hands. "Listen to me, I´m only doing what is correct, for everyone´s survival. Don´t worry about me."

"Hicks… you surely changed a lot" the now SC member said with admiration at how mature she became in such a few time.

"Do you think so?" she asked, completing her task. "I only think that… the circumstance is pressing me to act differently, that´s all" she put it on. "I guess we will see each other in the expeditions soon" the girl smiled, making him blush and changing the conversation to a much lighter subject. "You are going to need us if you want to conquer a few marleyan ships."

"I will be looking forward to work with you again."

And... the people now knows about the basement discovery. I made a few cahnges mainly because I thought of he strategy one would take in a possition such as Paravis Eldian´s now. Getting trained assasins to kill the most important Marleyan military leader would only work to their advantage, no? Well, they would need to increase their numbers first, so I choose a very known character to help them. What do you think? Review!


	11. Chapter 11

"Well, I guess a signed confirmation from a former king also helps" Zackley said after he closed the book Levi gave the military chiefs. "I can notice King Uri´s fight in each of the worlds, the effort he made to leave this piece of knowledge behind" all the people listened to them, waiting for a decision. Even the Queen was silent, knowing the weight on her shoulders because of her relationship with Karl Fritz. "And what should we do with this? Hide it or made it public knowledge?"

"We have to publish it" surprisingly, it was the Queen herself who announced it. Despite the damage it can do to her image. Despite her blood relation to the man who sold their country away. Despite the possibility of the public reacting in a terrible way towards the royal family for what they did to them, erasing their memories and keeping such a thing secret. "We took their memories and now we are restoring them. It´s the minimum we can do."

"With all due respect, your majesty, even if this decision is taken, this is not going to be easy" the commander of all forces said, lowering his head. "Some will meet the news with incredulity, some others with rage and others will completely reject it. Unfortunately, after those reactions there is only one that will come after: panic"

"Panic… bad thing" Historia sighed and rubbed her hands. "Then… how do we do it? Because I absolutely reject following in my ancestor´s footsteps. And I am sure the people will not follow us, specially into war, if we denied them this information."

"We can use the newspapers first" suggested Hange, who once experienced the power of the news. "I can give them some basic information about the situation and what we found in the basement. The release will be slow and meanwhile" she signalled the books. "We can focus on the actions to take when the outside world comes knocking on our door" the seriousness in her voice was evident. "I don´t think Marley will leave us alone after defeating their best forces."

"No… that´s why I´m sending you as soon as we can to our frontiers, along with Commander Pixis men" Zackley stared at his subordinate. "Commander, when is the garrison going to be ready to fortify our… coasts?" the doubt in the last word was evident, so all of the people stared at them. "What? I have never thought or even heard of a coast."

"No, commander, is not… that… it´s just that…" Pixis was sober for once and very upset. "We need more than you think. Our initial plan to protect the country was to post some of the troops on Wall Maria and reinforce all the sides, multiplying our production of cannons to…" the eyes his superior gave to him made him stop babbling. "I mean, it was the most effective plan we have, as we didn´t have cartography of the zone or anything about the terrain."

"Add some cartographers and architects to the expedition. The Survey Corps are about to receive a new influx of recruits… hummm, with their diminished numbers they are not able to guarantee the safety of the people moving with them. Is that right, commander Hange?"

"Ehhhhh… yeah" the sole female commander stopped herself from rubbing her head. "Sorry, but my forces were severely shortened and we have a traumatic succession, as commander Erwin was tragically lost in combat. Some of my men are still victims of shell shock…"

"We know, that´s why the MP and the Garrison are also sending men with you. Besides, after this news are out, I think your squad is going to have a rise in their recruits" he stared down at the books. "Most of the young people will be motivated to follow your path and fight for their country by this texts."

"I don´t doubt that" Zackley passed the page, reading a missive from the MP. "Commander Dokk, apparently you reactivated per orders the anti-personnel squad and have been transferring operatives to them" the man nodded. "And you asked about the manoeuvring gear they used, if the technicians could do some major improvements… some of them I don´t know if our technology is advanced enough to do."

"I also made other request that you haven´t mentioned…"

"Oh, that´s already approved" he passed the page. "If we are going to survive, all the military forces are going to have to use the manoeuvring gear to kill living people" he took off his glasses to rub his eyes. "I don´t know if this is going to work, for most of us have never thought of humans as enemies" he wrote something in the back of the page. "But that´s in the past. From now on, all operatives are going to have a crash course in anti-personnel manoeuvring gear and it´s going to be implemented in the academies too. Cadets need to be ready for battle. Pixis"

"Yeah?"

"I want those garrison posts plans ready before the Survey Corps departed for their expedition without any complain" anyway, the other commander made himself be heard. In fact, he stepped up in a rage.

"That can´t be! WE need the cartography and mapping of the zone, apart from the damn architect design and armament to be able to guard it against whatever Marley sends our way!" he held a few fingers up. "Besides we don´t have a city near or communication routes to support the troops stationed there. And, even if the garrison has the most amount of people of the three forces, we don´t have the personnel to…"

"I am not interested in your complains, just do it. Everybody here is working with virtually nothing, even Nile" he signalled. "He is going to be preparing us for the air attacks, which apparently Marley and the other countries are capable of doing. And just at the same time as you, I expect his plans to turn the underground city into an anti-bomb shelter for the civilians in case of an evacuation."

"But… but… but…" Dokk was about to collapse. Work was suddenly raining over him, so much that he barely had any time to see his wife and children. Dammit, this only meant more hours in the office without a single second to sleep.

"No buts" Eren saw the commanders sweat, thinking about his predicament again. He was a titan... the most powerful Titan they have in Eldian possession now. And he could use the coordinate… only if he had another titan with royal blood by his side. It worked with Dina, it should work with another… like Historia. But he didn´t want that to happen to her. She was too important to Levi… and to him too.

"Eren" Armin whispered. His brunette friend turned to him, eyeing his worried look. It was the only one he sported since he found out about his shortened lifespan. "I have convinced the people working for my companies to start the production of weapons. Zackley bought the first lot of them, it made my bankers and employees very happy, but…"

"I got it, you are having some regrets about the fabrication of tools to kill" he was too. When he enrolled, he never thought someday he was going to become a murderer. "I don´t think we have another option, Armin. We also are tools to kill."

"I know" the blond lowered his head. "They will use us as the primary defence until those garrison posts are ready, no?"

"Yes" the Jeager sighed. Tactical thinking was not his thing, but… that was common sense. "I´m going to talk to my uncle this afternoon. Alone" he confessed. "Before we depart, I have to set some things in order, especially regarding the companies. Uncle Javi still has control of the enterprise, his orders are the only one blocking me from concentrating entirely on the weapon development. I want to convince him to give me permission to…"

"Is there a problem, dear titans?" both of them lowered their heads when they realised they were talking too loud. "We were just talking about how some of the big companies can help us. Milords, can we have the cooperation of nobility and the private sector?"

"You already have, my factories are working top of their capability to supply our armies and even have some anti-personnel gears ready to be used…"

"I have talked with Angel Cherish" there was a whisper between the people in the room. The card the young Attack titan pulled was surprising. "He was the best student my grandmother had and, even if he lost some of his eyesight in the past few years, acceded to train some of our technicians."

"It´s an improvement" the commander said and left that aside to talk about the releasement of the news to the public again. After some more hours, Eren was walking outside along with some tired soldiers, all talking about the improvements. Some of them were even considering transferring to the survey corpse. As he was leaving, he saw the person he wanted to see the most.

"Captain!" he interrupted the short man, who was escorting the queen. Historia faked being interested in the conversation of someone else to give them some privacy. "Captain… your highness, I wanted to talk to you" he bowed shortly, just like his uncle taught to him. "I wanted to know if you are alright. After all, it must have been really hard to see the book your foster father left you."

"A little bit… it just pains me that I didn´t find it before" a carriage stopped in front of the door, with the Innocencio crest on it. "Where are you going, brat? You should be very careful from now on. Even more than before."

"I need to talk with my uncle… about my leading of the companies and other things… like the party he was going to offer. I told him people are not interested in parties right now, especially with the bomb we are about to drop, but…"

"Perhaps this is exactly what we need right now" Levi was good politician and knew how to twist anything to his favour. "And not just for the rich people, but for the public. Demonstrate the people that we are a whole country and that we will make a unite front against the rest of the world. We can introduce the idea of Eldia in that way to them. Not mankind, not the people inside the walls, but Eldia"

"Yes… I will take it to him, surely he will like it" he admired that. "Are you going to your house? I can take you there after my visit to uncle Javi."

"No, I´m staying here" he looked at the young blond over his shoulder. "Historia will need all the help she can have to survive. Some people are going to want to hurt her… she will need my protection."

"Are you being reassigned?"

"Don´t you know me, brat? I´m never quitting my job" he turned around. "Take care of your uncle, I´m going to do the same with my own family. And be ready for that expedition, because is going to be more important than you dare to think."

"Yes, I know" the Marleyans will be there, waiting for them. He entered the carriage thinking about it. He knew that this mission was exponentially less deathly than the last one, but the perspective of not coming back was still haunting him. And what was he going to tell his uncle? He was Javi´s only relative, if he didn´t leave anyone behind… no, he couldn´t think like that. His prime responsibility was with Eldia and just with Eldia. To bring victory to them. He arrived to the Innocencio manor with that determination in his eyes.

"So?" Javi was in the same place as ever, lying in his bed. Eren started with the tale, while the man just blinked. This was surprising, an entire world he hasn´t seen. And a whole word who hated them.

"… and I really hope we win this war"

"Is that so?" the former MP officer finally talked. "Wars aren´t won hoping, Eren, they are won acting. I didn´t act… and there is no day I don´t regret it. It should have been me, Kiklyo and Cardin fighting this battles, we three using Sharle´s inventions to pounder them to ground and we three opening Eldia´s way into the world. Unfortunately, I´m too old now and the duty felt on you" he coughed a bit. "I have to admit you are better than me at that"

"Uncle Javi…"

"Just do me a favour and come back" then his voice got stern. "And get married quickly. I know you have someone in mind, so just pop out the damn question already. Your prince will accept, you are better than any candidate he ever had and will have" his face turned red. "Listen to me, boy, don´t try to postpone it."

"I… I…"

"If you need more time, I would understand, but this is war and one of you can never come back. Better have a short happy time than no happiness at all"

"I… I will think about it" his nephew exited the room and Javi smiled. Was he leaving house Innocencio in good hands? Absolutely. Did he still have some regrets? Absolutely too. Eren was a good boy, but war tended to do horrible things to good boys. How much he wanted to take his place… to go to war with the two persons he thought would never miss so much, to say goodbye to his sister in the wall and promising her he would come back… to fight alongside his brother in law and his best friend.

"Javi…" he could hear Sharle´s voice right now. She was calling him and she sounded so close to him…

"Javi" Kiklyo´s voice was there too. He was devoid of all the hate he surely had against him for all he has done to him in the past, since he was just a little kid. In fact, he sounded happy, so happy…

"Javi" Cardin´s voice surprisingly came to him and his body suddenly felt so light. He opened his eyes and saw himself just as before, a young officer tall and blond, them in the end of a tunnel of white. He wanted to follow, but hesitated a bit. Was he leaving house Innocencio in good hands? Absolutely. Was Eren really ready to take his place? No one really was, but he was as ready as he can be. He followed with a last look back, leaving this world behind.

"Milord" the butler woke up the young Jeager, taking him to the room of the lord. He grabbed the cold hand of his uncle and cried. They were not so close, but blood called, after all. And now, a colossal duty was falling in top of them. He went to sleep as an heir and woke up as a lord. "Milord…"

"I´m lord Innocencio now" he realised and got dressed immediately. He had some things to do. "I want to visit the factories as soon as possible. Some things are going to change" when he arrived at the place and took a look at it, all the workers paralyzed around him, he finally spoke. "Gentlemen, we are going to change some things. From now on, we are making machinery for war."

-In another place-

"It´s just like you said" Historia peeked through the window, staring at the mass of people that stood in front of her palace, demanding explanations. "And we have yet to release the news about Karl Fritz to the world."

"Do you know how they doubt him in the military forces? The Traitor King" Levi said, lifting a knife and staring at it like it was the most interesting thing in the world. "Or the Coward King, depending on who you talk to" he sighed, lifting himself up. "But it´s normal. They felt the crown failed them a lot time ago and now. People are bound to think the same. And let´s not talk about the implications of you being the first Queen to declare war in a century."

"The first Queen to declare war against a human rival you mean" she closed her fist. "I think I should talk to them, tell them that we are not going to defeated, that this is a fight for survival and freedom."

"When was it not? Against the titans, against humans… it´s always a fight for survival" the Ackerman walked towards her. "I taught you everything Uri-san taught me and I know you learned well. You are a better politician than me, you will manage this crisis" more people was congregating there, demanding answers from the government. "We will manage"

"You are an expert in playing the game…"

"I´m an expert in the game, but you are the queen. And a living symbol of your people. What you said will take more impact than whatever a soldier could ever say, no matter the title" he put his knife away. "Talk to them, but don´t take risks. Do it from the window in the lower floor or the yard."

"I am not a distant Queen" Historia walked towards the door. "And, even if I was not the first option, the people trust me because I fought alongside my soldiers to stop my father and was the first member of the royal family to do something about the conditions of the children in the lower districts" Levi smiled and followed her. "I will make them clearly that the Goddess of the Cattlemen can also be the Goddess of Victory."

"I don´t expect anything less from you" she continued walking until she was at the doors of the palace. The guards tried to stop her, but the queen opened the door and appeared before her people, who shut up for a moment. "The news that went out earlier… I know that you all are horrified at them. And scared. I´m scared too" she breathed in, looking at the people directly, unlike her sister and even the fake Fritz king. This calmed them somewhat down. "I´m the first queen between the walls to declare war to a human nation in a century… but I will tell you, this is no time to fear. This is time to be strong, to overcome fear" they all listened to her. "And I´m not talking just as a monarch, but as a member of our people. Years ago, the country of Marley attacked without any provocation the Wall Maria, killing many of our own. I never thought that I would fight humans rather than Titans, but… they killed our compatriots! And would have done the same to Wall Rose if we hadn´t stop them!" this caused a reaction between the people, who started talking. "I want to live, I want to see my people living, I want to live in peace. That´s why I declare war to Marley, that´s why the military is reforming. So, I´m asking you, my people… what do you want? The same? Or to die?" there was some exclamations about living. "Then we go to war to live, to make sure we are left alone to live. To tell the World that we are Eldia and won´t let them step on us. WE ARE ELDIA AND WE ARE GOING TO LIVE!"

"Yes!"

"Well done" Levi said, staying behind the little queen. She walked towards him, feeling the cold of the night in her skin. "I wouldn´t have done that in my nightshirt and without shoes, but that seemed to have an attractive strike."

"Thank you" she sighed and walked away, followed by her shadow. "Zackley proposed a new thing in the joint, something called compulsory military service. You said it was not necessary and that the people should be able to do their own decisions, but I guess you have just won us a lot of new recruits."

"I am not doing this for the military, I´m doing this for Eldia… like everything I do from now on" the queen sighed and opened the door. "I want to go in that mission to the seashore."

"No" he immediately announced. "You are no longer an active soldier, Historia, and you are much too important now as a symbol of the continuity of Eldia and our traditions. You are the last royal by blood too. If you were to die…"

"I never resigned from the Survey Corps or my military career, captain, and I am a trained soldier" she said. "And what kind of queen I am if I don´t go to the front with my soldiers? I want to be there…"

"Next time" the Ackerman announced. "It´s too close to the reopening ceremony of the Wall Maria. You have to stay there for that" she glared at him, as if she wanted to hit him again. "Don´t look at me like that, brat. We just need you here until we secured a route. After that… I´m sure other people will be interested in populating the most exterior parts of Paravis. Maybe you can plan a port city?"

"Or I can plan a marriage" she joked. "Yours, as time is tickling"

"Don´t push it" the two of them sat down in one of the inner salons. "I will take you there, but not now. We need you to plan several things for Wall Maria and Shiganshina district. I even heard some of the older kids in your orphanage and families from the underground city are planning to move there."

"Shiganshina´s former residents are very few thanks to the population control the government applied. And, after the attacks to the Wall Rose, the refugees suffered the most" he put a paper in the table. "It´s said that the most of them are going back, but all of them will have enormous extensions of land and be unable to work it by themselves."

"That´s why I´m offering poor people opportunities to migrate there" she said. "Most of them took it."

"The thing is, it´s still not enough" Levi started writing. "According to the numbers, the volume of people migrating there is not enough to cover the former population of the district. I know most of them will probably reproduce and repopulate, but with war threatening us, it will take years to repopulate the usual way."

"And what do you suggest?"

"Political asylum" this surprised the queen. "I know it´s dangerous, but there could be a few groups of eldian restorationists out there interested in giving us a hand, especially when the infiltration phase begin" he showed something to her. "Right now, we have no idea of how to make this work. Perhaps those groups will aid with the infiltration in exchange for asylum in the Shiganshina district."

"I just hope the operation goes on well"

-A few days later-

"In the end, this was a good idea… uncle Javi would have liked it" Eren commented to Armin, walking in the middle of the street. Around him, there were bonfires and people talking to each other, rich and poor, all of them admiring the now risen flag of Eldia on top of the palace. The queen was also with her people, talking about the next day´s great expedition to the seashore… and the probabilities of the Survey and Garrison corpses finding Marleyan invaders there.

"Yes..." Armin was busy thinking about the strategy to apply tomorrow to even notice he was at a party. Mikasa was like that too, completely silent. Then both of them notice Eren also felt silent. They looked and noticed he was staring at Levi with a too passionate look. "Go ask him for a dance"

"What?"

"There" the blond signalled a place where the people have congregated to dance. Eren´s face lit up like a torch. "Go there and ask the captain for a dance."

"Asking for… a dance? Asking the captain for…" he babbled, making his sister worry about him a bit. "Come on, Armin is… I can´t. He is older than me and probably… probably… he thinks me a… a brat… and…"

"Eren, you like him a lot and I think he likes you too. He wouldn´t pay you so much attention if he doesn´t" the brunette was about to reply that he only paid him attention because the Titan power, but Armin shut him up. "And no, he doesn´t pay you so much attention because of the Titan" the other opened his mouth again. "No buts. We are already living on borrowed time, so stop acting like a baby and ask the captain a fucking dance like you did in that ball months ago. You got the guts for it once, you can do it twice."

"I… I…"

"Get there" both of his friends pushed him towards the Ackerman. Eren nearly collided with the man, stopping himself a few centimetres before the collision. After a few awkward seconds, the shifter managed to pop out the words and his superior accepted. They were dancing and talking at the same time.

"I… I hope you are not mad because I… I…"

"Easy there, brat, if you are too nervous someone might notice" Levi said. "And if you want a dance, you just have to ask. Don´t doubt for the next time. If you do it in any aspect of life, you are going to regret that later."

"What… what about a…?"

"A reunion?" he would be lying if he said that he didn´t felt some attraction towards the young man, especially with all the time they spent together… but he somehow doubted he felt the same towards him. after all, the teen was younger and probably attracted to someone his own age. "Ask too, you can talk to me anytime you want."

"I… I was talking about a… a date" they stayed silent for a second, moving with the song the popular musicians were interpreting. "I know you were going to say no, you probably were already…"

"After the expedition…"

"What?"

"After the expedition… we can talk and have some tea in your house. Just the two of us, before the madness begins" Eren was practically jumping in happiness. Levi practically accepted to have a date with him.

"Of course, after we are free of work" he accepted. Partially because he wanted a perfect day and partially because… well, he understood the meaning of WORK now. After the graduation ceremony of the academy, for once the Survey Corps were the ones to receive most recruits. Unfortunately, the only officers with experience available in the corps apart from the new commander and her right hand man were the recently ascended former team Levi. So they were all tasked with their own teams… teams of little extremist bastards with lust for marleyan blood. And let´s say that, even if poor Jean got the worse out of the deal, having to keep Floch under his wing, Eren was starting to regret not staying a cadet. Especially because Marlowe was enough trouble to match him with Jean. "Talking about the expedition, I don´t know if we should use the usual formation with so much newies…"

"Just keep your team under control in the expedition and everything will be alright" sighed the prince. "Erwin was the best tactician we had in years, his formation is our best opportunity, like ever. We are going to follow the plan and achieve victory… all in his name."

"All in his name"

-Some days later-

"It´s a miracle we dodged so many titans so easily" Lima said. She was a recent transfer from the MP, a captain who directed some tactical operations that went to reinforce the weakened Legion and share some experience in operations against people. "I guess this is why the Survey Corps are the best trained to guide people towards and from the sea" she got down from her horse, staring at the platform in the sandy environment. "I guess this must be the place where Cardin Baumeister saw a Titan being born."

"We can´t be sure, there can be more of this dreaded things somewhere around the island" the young team leaders got down from their horses. It has been a risky enterprise, overall bringing civilians with them, but they managed to achieve it. Hange was happy for that.

"Yes" Levi stared at the brats running towards the sea and start playing in the water, drinking it and splashing around. Soon the other recruits followed their superiors, until Armin´s strange declaration stopped them. He coughed in that moment, catching their attention and getting into soldier mood. "Oi, brats, stop playing and start doing your work. We have to set a camping zone and a perimeter to avoid any nasty surprise. Jean, your team will help the cartographers to complete the work for Pixis so we can leave as soon as we can."

"I don´t see any ships approaching" Lima was staring through a telescope. "We have to move quickly anyway, we won´t be able to put a strong front in a place like this without those forts commander Pixis ordered."

"Dammit, and we could be more than sure that they will attack soon" the scientist turned commander started looking around, searching for something. "Perhaps we can improvise a bit with rocks or something… just enough to make them send troops to earth for us to capture. One explorer could be more valuable than you can think."

"Let´s hope the marleyans understood it that way" the MP captain answered, signalling for the others to start unpacking the equipment. Meanwhile, Eren turned into a Titan and started carrying rocks under Armin´s careful supervision. The blonde's Titan was too big to help without causing too much damage, so they had him supervising. And while they were working, Marlowe and Floch were capturing dinner.

"I swear I have never seen something like this. Do you think it´s edible?" Floch was trying to catch the other´s attention, holding a sea star in his hands. The other didn´t answer, capturing another, more normal fish. "Woow, you are good. I never thought you were trained in fishing"

"Hitch and me had to do it once before, so I have some experience" he touched a seashell much like Armin´s he found in the sand before. It will be a good present for Hitch, along with some other many things he collected in the sea before. "Have you seen her lately, by the way?"

"No… I thought she was your girlfriend"

"No, we aren´t… shut up, I´m just worried about her. Since she joined the anti-personnel squad she hasn´t been the same. It´s just… not normal."

"The real question is if someone in that squad could be normal… but I´m sure it will be alright. She will surely ace whatever they are doing."

"That´s what I fear"

-In the city-

"Welcome to your first month of training baptism of fire" Kenny announced, cackling in laughter. "Oh, and don´t worry, if you fail this you are only out" they were in front of a door leading to somewhere in the underground. "As this is the most important part of your training with our unit… and the most difficult too. But don´t worry, I´m sure you will do it alright. I did it! And dear Traute also did it pretty quickly!"

"Well, I guess this is it" Hitch was ready. Unfortunately, most of her classmates came out running and some even crying, apparently failing the test. And the others were shell shocked. As if they couldn´t believe they did it. And soon she understood. It was her turn and she got down to a room with blood on the walls and a tied up man in a chair. "What…"

"Welcome, little swam" Kenny Ackerman appeared. "This man here is a traitor and your order is to kill him" he put a gun on her hands. "Well, good luck doing it"

"W… why…?"

"Because this is the most important mission of our squad. To kill for the crown… it´s the best way to protect it from the shadows. And you have to do it or you are not going to be able to serve under me" the Ackerman continued and the girl sweated. He knew she could do it, but apparently, she needed a push. "He betrayed the crown, he gave classified information to Annie Leonhardt" he was pushing her buttons. Her hands curled around the weapon, her finger in the trigger. "Do it… kill him… he is responsible in part for their attack on Wall Rose. Don´t you want to avenge people that died? He would kill your family too, all for money" he continued and she finally put the weapon in the other´s head and shot. The bullet never got out. "Great, great! Not as fast as Traute dear, but good!" he laughed. "How many of them could do it?"

"Four" the blond answered. "Four capable of killing"

"A good start. Hope they all made it in the end" he looked at the girl. "Next time you will really have to do it, so… prepare."

"I will be prepared" she answered, putting her fist over her hearth. She will do it. Oh, she will definitely do it next time and became an assassin. Yes, she will.

-In the seashore-

"You seemed quiet" Levi sat down next to Eren, who was watching for enemies. The captain sat down and prepared some tea. They both drank for some minutes before continuing talking. "This was your dream, no?"

"Yes… for my childhood I dreamed to see this place… but now I wanted to see the whole world and also… also crush it" he sighed. "I guess that makes me a bad guy"

"No, that makes you human. You have something to protect, something you love, and you want to do everything in your power to protect them. And that, brat, is something I really like about you" he admitted, looking at his tea. "Never lose it, brat. That day would be the day you lose yourself and I never want to see something like that."

"I won´t… I promise" for him, he was capable of everything. But then, there was something… "Captain, what we are doing is right? Because… killing people… I don´t know if it´s really the right thing to do."

"I can´t tell you, because I don´t know. But I know that when things start, you are going to do the right thing. For us and for Eldia. That´s the only way we are going to survive this" Levi finished with his cup and got up. "And next time we met, have better tea to drink. I highly dislike this cheap leaves."

"What? Oh, yes, yes, sure" Eren promised. "Next time, I will have the best tea leaves at your disposal"

And like this, another chapter is finished. I hope you enjoyed it. And, as someone asked, I am going to keep actualizing yet. It is not finished. Net chapter... I guess they will met Yelena. from here on, more things are going to change, diverting from cannon. Hope you like it. Review!


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